The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), the ticketing arm of the Indian Railways, offers a separate quota and concession to senior citizens for bookings through IRCTC website and app.
As per the policy of railway travel concession, male senior citizens (of the age of 60 years and above) and women senior citizens (of the age of 58 and above) are granted 40 percent and 50 percent concession, respectively, in all classes of Mail, Express, Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains.
However, the senior citizen, during his/her journey, is required to carry the documentary proof showing their age or date of birth. In case of failure to produce the requisite proof of age during the journey, he/she is charged only the difference of fare (between full fare and concessional fare).
The move, which was implemented in February 2016, seeks to prevent passengers from misusing both ‘senior citizen quota’ and ‘senior citizen concession’.
According to the rules notified by the Ministry of Railways, passengers misusing senior citizens “concession” would be charged penalty in addition to difference of fare (between full fare and concessional fare).
Senior citizens in the country have also been provided with a facility to get confirmed lower berths under the Senior Citizen Quota.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)