Indian Railways refund and cancellation rules

New refund rules 2026: Indian Railways has announced a new set of refund rules for its train tickets. As per the new rules, if a passenger chooses to cancel the train ticket within 24 to 72 hours of the scheduled departure, there will be 25% deduction in the train ticket fare. If the cancellation is made within 8 hours then no refund will be issued on the ticket.In the meantime, last year Indian Railways made several changes to its train ticket booking system as well. For example, effective October 1, 2025, Indian Railways introduced a rule mandating Aadhaar authentication for passengers booking reserved tickets under the general quota via the IRCTC website or mobile application during the first 15 minutes of the booking window. The move was intended to ensure that genuine users benefit from the reservation system while curbing misuse by unauthorised entities.The introduction of this measure followed closely on the heels of Indian Railways making Aadhaar authentication compulsory for Tatkal bookings from July 1, 2025.Those booking tickets under the Tatkal scheme are required to complete Aadhaar verification and can do so only through the IRCTC website or its mobile application.The guidelines also outlined restrictions for authorised railway ticketing agents in relation to Tatkal reservations.Such agents are barred from booking Tatkal tickets on the first day during the initial 30 minutes of the booking window. This restriction applies from 10:00 am to 10:30 am for air-conditioned classes and from 11:00 am to 11:30 am for non-air-conditioned classes.This story is being updated