Both rail and road travellers on Monday got another round of relief as the Railways extended the use of the defunct Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes to purchase tickets till November 24 while the Road Ministry waived of the toll fee on highways till November 18.
According to a senior Railway Ministry official, the Government had earlier allowed use of the old currency at Government hospitals, railway ticketing, public transport, airline ticketing at airports, milk booths, crematoria/burial grounds and petrol pumps till November 11, which was extended to November 14. It has now been further extended to November 24.
However, the precautionary measures, like refund of cancelled tickets would be done through ticket deposit receipts (TDR) and not in cash. The railways had announced the stopping of giving refunds for cancellation of tickets in cash and issuing ticket deposit receipts (TDR) in its place.
In case of refund amount touching Rs 10,000 or above, the Railways will only transfer the amount to the customer’s bank account and the person concerned is required to furnish account details for receiving the amount while cancelling the ticket.
For road user, no toll would be charged on National Highways till the midnight of November 18, with the Government extending the earlier deadline by four days. “The Government has decided to extend the deadline till midnight of November 18,” said a Road Ministry official.
The official said the decision has been taken to ensure smooth traffic movement across all National Highways and provide relief to cash-starved people who are queuing up outside banks and ATMs after Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes were demonetised.
Instructions have been issued to all concessionaires, including BOT, OMT operators and other fee collection agencies, about the extension of toll suspension date.