The Indian Railways suspended the senior citizens ticket concession in trains in March 2020. The decision to cancel the ticket concessions for senior citizens was stopped citing Covid-19 pandemic-related concerns.
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The IRCTC used to grant concessions in the fares of Male Senior Citizens of minimum 60 years and Female Senior Citizen of minimum 58 years. The concession in the ticket prices was trains including, granted in all trains, including Rajdhani Express, Shatabdi Express, Duronto Express and other Express and Mail trains.
A Right to Information (RTI) response has found that Railways has earned additional revenue of around Rs 2,242 crore from senior citizen travellers in 2022-23 by revoking the concession offered to them.
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The national transporter had generated Rs 1,500 crore in excess between March 20, 2020, and March 31, 2022, IANS reported.
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The Indian Railway said this while replying to an RTI query filed by Madhya Pradesh-based Chandra Shekhar Gaur.
Between April 1, 2022, and March 31, 2023, it did not offer concessions to almost eight crore senior citizens which included about 4.6 crore men, 3.3 crore women and 18,000 transgenders, said the Railways.
The total revenue from senior citizen travellers during the period is Rs 5,062 crore which includes an additional Rs 2,242 crore, earned due to the suspension of the concession, as per the RTI reply as quoted by IANS.
The earnings from senior citizen fares have increased at a steady pace. The Railways did not offer concessions to 7.31 crore senior citizen travellers between March 20, 2020, and March 31, 2022. These included 4.46 crore male passengers aged 60 years and above, 2.84 crore female travellers over 58 and 8,310 transgender people.
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During 2020-22, total revenue from senior citizen travellers was Rs 3,464 crore which was Rs 1,500 crore more than what it would have earned if they had offered the concessions to them.
During the financial year 2022-23, the Railways earned Rs 2,891 crore from male senior citizen passengers, Rs 2,169 crore from female travellers, and Rs 1.03 crore from transgenders, reported IANS.
In all classes, women senior citizen travellers were eligible for a 50 per cent concession while males and transgenders can avail 40 per cent. The minimum age limit for a woman to avail the concession is 58 years, while it is 60 for a man.
The concessions that were granted before March 2020 have remained suspended till date. While train services remained suspended through most of 2020 and parts of 2021, the demand for concessions began surfacing as services normalised, reported IANS.
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The Railways concessions have been a much-discussed topic over the last two decades and multiple committees have been recommending its withdrawal. As a result of this, in July 2016, the Railways made the concession for the elderly optional.
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According to official data, the national transporter incurs a huge burden of around Rs 2,000 crore every year due to around 53 types of concessions it offers to various kinds of passengers. The senior citizen concession amounts to around 80 per cent of the total discounts given by the Railways.
The Supreme Court, recently, rejected a plea seeking the restoration of concession in railway ticket prices for senior citizens.
