Under the revised norm, the children between the above mentioned age group are still allowed to travel at half the travel fare, however, they have to be accommodated on the seat of the adult accompanying them.
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The Indian Railways earned over Rs 2,800 crore in the last seven years from child travellers after revising child travel fare norms, an RTI response has revealed. The financial year 2022-23 alone earned Rs 560 crore from the change in norms, making it the most profitable year, the response from the Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) under the Right to Information (RTI) Act showed.
The Ministry of Railways on March 31, 2016, announced it would start charging full adult fare for children aged 5 and under 12 years if they opted for separate berths or seats in a reserved coach. The amended norm came into effect on April 21, 2016. Earlier, children between 5 and 12 years were offered separate berths at half the travel fare.
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Under the revised norm, the children between the above mentioned age group are still allowed to travel at half the travel fare, however, they have to be accommodated on the seat of the adult accompanying them.
The CRIS, an organisation under the Ministry of Railways, gave the data from the financial year of 2016-17 to 2022-23 of two categories of children based on their fare options in a tabular form.
As per the data provided by the CRIS, in the last seven year, over 3.6 crore were found to have travelled aying half fare without opting for a reserved seat or coach, while over 10 crore children opted for a separate berth/seat and paid full fare.
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“The response also suggests that out of total children who travel by the railways, about 70 per cent prefer to pay full fare and get a berth or seat,” RTI applicant Chandra Shekhar Gaur said.
Gaur added that revision of norms has turned out to be a “windfall gain for the railways”. The year 2020-21 earned only Rs 157 crore, making it the least profitable year. Gaur said it showed that COVID-19 did its damage in the year.
(With PTI inputs)
