Indian Railways carries about 2.4 crore passengers a day. Of these, around 3-4 lakh refund requests flow through IRCTC and station counters daily. Most go through smoothly. But the bucket of partial-deduction disputes, late-running calculations, and “TDR rejected without reason” runs into thousands per month — quietly. RailMadad fixes some. RTI fixes the rest.

A TDR (Ticket Deposit Receipt) is the formal claim you file with Indian Railways when:

• The train ran but you couldn't perform the journey (missed, late at boarding, AC failed, coach not attached, etc.).
• The ticket was partially confirmed but you chose not to travel.
• You paid more than the entitled fare (difference of fare).
• The ticket was used but service was deficient.

You don't need a TDR — refund is automatic — when:

• The train was cancelled by Indian Railways (system message confirms).
• Your fully waitlisted ticket auto-dropped at chart preparation.
• The train didn't run (cancelled in flux) and the chart never got prepared.

The legal anchors are:

• Indian Railways Act, 1989 (parent statute for ticketing and refunds).
• Railway Passengers (Cancellation of Tickets and Refund of Fare) Rules, 2015 — popularly the “Cancellation Refund Rules 2015”. Notified by the Ministry of Railways and amended periodically.
• IRCTC Refund Policy issued under Railway Board notifications — applies to e-tickets booked through irctc.co.in / IRCTC Rail Connect app.
• Consumer Protection Act, 2019 — parallel route when the railway/IRCTC service is “deficient”.

Open https://www.irctc.co.in → Login → “My Account” → “My Transactions” → “Booked Ticket History”.

Look at the PNR's status:

• “Cancelled by Railways” / “Train Cancelled” → refund will be auto-initiated within 3-7 working days. Just wait.
• “Confirmed but journey not performed” / “AC Failure” / “Train Late > 3 hrs” → you must file a TDR.
• “Cancelled by user” within free / sliding-scale window → already auto-refunded per the matrix; no TDR.

• In the same screen, find your PNR → click “File TDR” next to it.
• The system shows passenger names — tick the names you want to file TDR for (you can file partial TDR if only some passengers couldn't travel).

The dropdown is long. Picking the wrong reason is the single biggest cause of rejection. Common valid options:

• Train cancelled by Railways but refund not received automatically.
• Train running late by more than 3 hours at the passenger's boarding station.
• AC failure during journey (file with attached complaint).
• Coach not attached / coach attached late.
• Wrong charging by TTE (difference of fare).
• Party Partially Confirmed (some passengers waitlisted, full party didn't travel).
• Passenger not travelled due to bandh / law and order.
• Travelled in lower class — refund of difference.
• Train terminated short of destination.

• Date of journey, station from / to (auto-pulled).
• Free-text remark — be specific (date, time, train number, what went wrong, who was the TTE / supervisor if AC failure).
• Upload supporting documents if available (rare requirement; mostly the system goes by your PNR + reason).

• Click Submit. The system shows a TDR Reference Number (TXXXXXX format).
• IRCTC forwards the request electronically to the Railway Refund Office (the agent of the relevant zonal Chief Commercial Manager — CCM).

• “My Account” → “My Transactions” → “Track TDR Status”.
• Possible statuses: Pending, Sent to Railway, Refund Processed, Claim Rejected.
• Refund is credited to the original payment mode (card / UPI / wallet / net banking).

The Cancellation Refund Rules 2015 mandate refund processing within 90 days. In practice, IRCTC processes most TDRs within 60 days. The bank credit then takes another 3-7 days.

• Within IRCTC: re-submit with stronger remarks; or email care@irctc.co.in quoting TDR reference.
• Outside IRCTC: RailMadad → CPGRAMS → RTI → Consumer Forum.

The online TDR route does not apply. Instead:

• Go to the originating station's Chief Reservation Supervisor (CRS) within 3 days of date of journey (within 24 hours for “train not run”).
• Fill Form COM/T-3010 (TDR form) — submit with original ticket and ID proof.
• The CRS gives a stamped TDR receipt.
• Refund comes by money order or by cheque from the zonal CCM — typically 60-90 days.

+--------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
| Train cancelled by Railways          | Auto-refund full base fare + GST    |
| (no TDR needed)                      | + reservation charge.               |
|                                      | Service charge (IRCTC) ₹15-30 per   |
|                                      | passenger NON-refundable in some    |
|                                      | cases — check refund breakup.       |
+--------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
| Fully waitlisted ticket auto-dropped | Auto-refund full amount (incl.      |
| at chart preparation                 | service charge for fully waitlisted)|
+--------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
| Cancellation by user — confirmed     | Sliding scale per Refund Rules 2015 |
| ticket, AC class                     |   > 48 hrs before: ₹240 + GST cut   |
|                                      |   12-48 hrs: 25% of fare            |
|                                      |   4-12 hrs: 50% of fare             |
|                                      |   < 4 hrs / after chart: NO REFUND  |
+--------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
| Cancellation by user — confirmed     | Sleeper class:                      |
| ticket, sleeper / 2S                 |   > 48 hrs: ₹120 + GST cut          |
|                                      |   Same sliding scale beyond.        |
+--------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
| TDR — train late > 3 hrs at         | Full refund of fare. File within   |
| boarding station                     | 60 days from date of journey.       |
+--------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
| TDR — AC failure                    | Refund of difference between AC     |
|                                      | fare and lower class fare.          |
+--------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
| TDR — partially confirmed (waitlist  | Refund of fare for non-travelled   |
| in party booking) journey not done   | passengers if TDR filed before chart|
|                                      | preparation + 30 mins.              |
+--------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
| RTI to IRCTC PIO / Indian Railways   | ₹10 by IPO. BPL = free.            |
| zonal CCM PIO                        |                                     |
+--------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+

Sample TDR submission — text to use in the "Remark" box:
---------------------------------------------------------
PNR: XXXXXXXXXX
Train: 20701 Vande Bharat Express
Date of Journey: 23 March 2025
Boarding station: Secunderabad (SC)
Reason: Train cancelled by Railways at 06:00 hrs on
23/03/2025 due to track blockade near Kurnool. Cancellation
SMS received from IRCTC at 06:14 hrs (attached).
Auto-refund of Rs 1,180 received on 26/03/2025; balance
Rs 710 deducted as service charge appears excessive.
Requesting refund of Rs 70 wrongly deducted as cancellation
fee for a train cancelled by Railways (non-chargeable per
Cancellation Refund Rules 2015).

• Filed late. TDR must be filed within 60 days from date of journey for most reasons; 24 hours for “train not run / cancelled by Railways but refund not received”. Late filing = automatic rejection.
• Wrong reason chosen from the dropdown. E.g., you picked “AC failure” but actually missed the train — system cross-checks with TTE log and rejects.
• Train ran but you missed. “Passenger did not turn up” is a valid reason but refund will be NIL after chart preparation. The TDR is technically allowed to be filed but the refund payable is zero.
• Fare deducted as “ticket used” by TTE error. The TTE electronically marks all passengers as “travelled” via HHT (hand-held terminal). If the device was offline and someone else used your seat, the system shows journey performed.
• Refund already processed automatically. You filed a TDR for the difference but the system says “settled in full”.
• PNR linked to e-ticket issued through agent (e.g., MakeMyTrip, Paytm) where the agent retained the booking. TDR has to be filed via the agent's app, not IRCTC.
• Dispute over GST and service charge — these are non-refundable for user-initiated cancellation. TDR for this will always be rejected.
• Multiple TDRs on same PNR — only one TDR per PNR is allowed.

• Email: care@irctc.co.in (response 5-10 working days).
• Helpline: 1800-419-1010 (24×7).
• Chat / app: IRCTC Rail Connect app → “Help” → live chat.

• Dial 139 — 24×7, multilingual. Useful for AC failure / coach issue during the journey (the on-call team can dispatch supervisor).
• Less useful for refund disputes (they redirect to IRCTC).

• https://railmadad.indianrailways.gov.in
• Indian Railways' official grievance portal (separate from IRCTC).
• Categories: refund, cleanliness, security, medical, food, divyangjan, etc.
• 24×7 intake; ticket-tracked; SLA 3-5 days for acknowledgement and a stated outcome.

• https://pgportal.gov.in → Ministry of Railways → relevant zone / IRCTC.
• Useful when both IRCTC and RailMadad close the ticket without resolution.
• Statutory 30-day SLA under the CPGRAMS Reform Programme 2022.

This is where the legal clock kicks in. IRCTC (a Railway Mini-Ratna PSU under Ministry of Railways) and Indian Railways (each zonal railway is a public authority) are covered under §2(h) of the RTI Act 2005.

RTI helps here when:

• Refund is shown “processed” but you never received credit — RTI to PIO IRCTC for the transaction reference at the bank end.
• Refund amount is short and IRCTC/RailMadad won't share the breakup — RTI to PIO IRCTC for the fare-deduction calculation per rule.
• TDR rejected without reason — RTI to PIO of the relevant zonal Chief Commercial Manager (CCM) (the refund agent at the zone) for the dealing officer's noting and the rule cited.
• Train running late by more than 3 hours but the system shows it ran on time — RTI to PIO of the operating zone for the actual chart and station-arrival time log.
• AC failure complaint dismissed — RTI to PIO zonal CCM for the TTE's journey log + AC complaint book entry.

RTI does NOT help here when:

• Pure rule-based deductions (cancellation fee per slab, GST) — these are policy; RTI confirms the rule but won't get the money back. Use Consumer Forum instead — IRCTC and Indian Railways have repeatedly been held service providers under the Consumer Protection Act 2019 (NCDRC, Indian Railways v. Bhagat Singh, 2018; multiple State Commission orders).
• Compensation for lost luggage / personal injury — that's a claims tribunal matter (Railway Claims Tribunal under §13 of the Railway Claims Tribunal Act 1987, not RTI).
• The train is running late right now and you want it stopped — call 139 immediately.

For format and template, see RTI in 12 simple steps — for first-time filers.

• District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (DCDRC) — for claims up to ₹50 lakh (raised under Consumer Protection Act 2019).
• Filing fee: ₹100-200 for small claims; can be filed online at e-daakhil (https://edaakhil.nic.in).
• Typical timeline: 6-18 months. Compensation often includes the disputed refund + ₹2,000-25,000 for “deficiency of service” + cost of litigation.

• For cases involving compensation for death / injury / lost goods — not for ticket refunds.
• Statute: Railway Claims Tribunal Act, 1987.
• Bench locations across major cities; no court fee for personal injury claims.

Q. The train was cancelled but the auto-refund is taking more than a week. What do I do?
First check your IRCTC “Booked Ticket History” — the refund status will show as “Initiated” with a date. If it's been more than 7 working days from initiation, raise a complaint at care@irctc.co.in quoting the PNR. If still no movement, file a TDR with reason “Train cancelled by Railways but refund not received” — must be done within 24 hours of expected refund non-receipt strictly speaking, but in practice the system accepts up to 60 days.

Q. The train ran 4 hours late at my boarding station and I didn't travel. Can I get a full refund?
Yes — file a TDR with reason “Train running late by more than 3 hours at the passenger's boarding station”. Full refund of fare is payable per the Cancellation Refund Rules 2015. The “boarding station” is the one printed on your ticket (which can be different from the originating station of the train).

Q. I had a confirmed AC ticket but the AC didn't work. The TTE didn't note it. Now what?
File a TDR with reason “AC failure during journey” — refund is the difference between the AC fare you paid and the lower-class fare. Crucial: without a contemporaneous note in the AC complaint book (or a written acknowledgement from the TTE / supervisor), refund is hard to establish. Also write a separate RailMadad complaint immediately — the timestamp itself helps.

Q. My ticket was partially confirmed (party booking, some confirmed, some waitlisted). Can I cancel only the waitlisted ones for refund?
Yes — and this is automatic if you didn't travel. If you cancelled before chart preparation, refund is per the cancellation slab. If you didn't cancel, the waitlisted names auto-drop and refund is automatic. For a “party did not travel” because partial confirmation made the trip pointless, file TDR for the confirmed names within 30 minutes after chart preparation.

Q. I booked through Paytm / MakeMyTrip / Confirmtkt — can I file a TDR on IRCTC?
No. Bookings made through B2B agents are visible on IRCTC but TDR has to be filed through the agent's app/portal — they then submit to IRCTC. If the agent is unresponsive, complain to IRCTC at care@irctc.co.in (since IRCTC is the principal) and also to the agent's grievance officer.

Q. The IRCTC service charge — is it ever refundable?
For most cases of train cancellation by Railways and fully waitlisted dropped tickets, the service charge is refunded automatically. For user-initiated cancellation of confirmed / RAC tickets, the service charge is NOT refunded — and that has been upheld in IRCTC's Refund Policy. For TDR cases, it depends on the reason — train-side failures (AC, late running) usually refund the service charge; passenger-side reasons don't.

Q. Is there a window to file a Consumer Forum case after the refund is rejected?
Yes — under the Consumer Protection Act 2019, complaints can be filed within 2 years from the date the cause of action arose (the refund rejection). Online filing via e-daakhil is now well-established for railway / IRCTC matters.

• RTI in 12 simple steps — for first-time filers
• All Indian government helplines — one master directory
• RTI forms + state-wise fee chart
• How to claim a flight cancellation / delay refund — DGCA CAR guide
• How to file a CPGRAMS grievance — full process

Last reviewed: 26 April 2026 by RTI Wiki editorial team. IRCTC refund slabs and service charge structure change with Railway Board notifications — verify amounts at irctc.co.in or write to admin@bighelpers.in if you spot a stale figure.