After lPG, the scheme of giving up of subsidy, in this case by senior citizens, has been a successful one in the Indian Railways. In about three months, about five lakh passengers offered to travel on full-fare tickets without the applicable concession. It is anticipated that this has already led to a gain of Rs 200 crore to the Railways in three months, though the exact figures would be reflected only after the end of the third financial quarter.
Since July 2017, senior citizens have the option to avail either the full concession provided to them on rail tickets or half of it. Through this step railways feel that it could reduce the Rs 1,300 crore subsidy burden in the senior citizen category. At present, male senior citizens get 40 per cent while women get 50 per cent concession on the total fare. Though there are many categories of passengers including sportspersons and differently-abled persons who avail concessions, the major beneficiaries are in the senior citizen segment.
A senior rail official said ever since the scheme began on July 22, 2017, of the total of 1.69 crore (99 lakh male; 69 lakh female) senior citizen
passengers, 4.04 lakh senior citizens travelled on full fare while 4.56 lakh availed 50 percent as per the rail concession scheme on senior citizens till October 20.
The railways had started printing the subsidy "burden" it is bearing on the train tickets to make passengers aware of the "real cost" involved in the travel. "We recover 57 per cent in passenger service and 37 per cent in suburban services and this is reflected on our tickets now," said the official. On an average, railway carries about 13 lakh reserved class passengers.
Currently, the loss in the passenger segment is Rs 34,000 crore annually which is met through cross-subsidy from freight earnings. To plug the revenue gap besides several schemes and increasing fare slabs through surreptitious means, railways last year started dynamic fares on premium trains which brought in Rs 550 crores of additional revenues to the national transporter.
The other revenue generating model includes no refunds on waitlisted tickets after 30 minutes of train departures, adding more seats through RAC, full fare of children needing berths etc.
The senior citizen concession scheme became a part of the railway reservation policy after a Faridabad-based samaritan, Avtar Kher, offered to refund the subsidy amount paid for his journey by the Indian Railways in June this year. On completion of his journey, Kher alongwith a letter enclosed a cheque in the name of IRCTC for the differential amount of the actual fare and the subsidy.
"I was pained to learn from my e-ticket that a common taxpayer is carrying a burden of 43 per cent of my travel. Ever since I arrived at my residence I have been feeling the pain on this count. I appreciate the Government for giving us senior citizen status, but I personally feel that there should be no financial benefit for those who can do without it," said Kher in his letter to the Railway Minister, as reported first by The Pioneer.
The then Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, who was informed about Kher's gesture, instructed the officials to examine and also convey best wishes to Kher to become a contributor to the development of Indian Railways.
Kher, a resident of Faridabad, had travelled by Jammu Rajdhani last month. Besides enclosing a cheque of Rs 950, Kher vowed in his letter to Prabhu that now on he and his wife would not travel on subsidised fare.