IRCTC ticket booking: No more free, Indian Railways to charge you for this benefit

Indian Railways train ticket booking from Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is going to pinch your pocket a little more from September 1. The IRCTC has decided to do away with free travel insurance it used to provide to commuters traveling on e-tickets. 

Now, a user will have an option to opt-in or opt-out of travel insurance. The IRCTC has been giving free travel insurance since December 2017 to promote digital transactions. It is also notable that the corporation had waived of ticket booking charge for users making payments via debit cards. 

The IRCTC travel insurance is uniform for all classes and gives a maximum cover of Rs 10 lakh in case of death during the train journey, Rs 7,50,000 in case of permanent or partial disability, Rs 2,00,000 in case of injuries and Rs 10,000 for transportation of mortal remains. 

However, any child below 5 years of age is not covered under this insurance. The IRCTC had tied up with ICICI Lombard General Insurance, Royal Sundaram General Insurance and Shriram General Insurance for providing travel insurance. It used to pay 92 paise per commuter to the insurance firm. The amount adds up to Rs 1 including tax. Now a traveller will have to bear this expense. 

However, it has not yet been confirmed how much a commuter will have to pay to get insurance. An IRCTC official said that the charges will be announced soon.