Full Fare to be charged for children - Fusion - WeRIndia

Indian Railways is planning to charge full fare for children aged 5-12 if a separate seat or berth is sought for them. So far, the children of the above age group were allowed to a separate seat or berth at half the fare.

The new rule of child fare will come into effect from April 22. From then on, passengers who want separate seats or berths for their children in the age group of 5-12 should pay full fare. Or they do not get seat or berth but pay half the rate for travelling in the train. Children below the age of five years will continue to enjoy free ride as usual since they do not have a berth.

20 million additional confirmed berths or seats will be available to the passengers of Railways in a year with this change in child fare rules. The expected revenue generation from this would be Rs.525 crore per annum.

Railways officials agree that this move will certainly affect the travel budget of families, but it is likely to release 20 million confirmed berths to other passengers in trains including senior citizens and women. This is equal to running 20,000 additional trains a year. Thus, this move helps Railways in generating extra revenue of approximately Rs.525 crore per year without spending a single paisa.

As per the reports, the number of child passengers aged 5-12 who sought berths on half fare was around 2.11 crore in 2014-15 whereas the number of child passengers in unreserved class was 6.20 crore. The new rule is applicable to only reserved tickets. The half-fare for children aged 5-12 years for unreserved class will continue as usual. Railways will make necessary changes in their reservation form accordingly. Hence, passengers can choose a full berth or seat for a child or not and fare can paid based on that.

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