Railways Scraps Service Charge On Food Items, But Here’s A Catch. IRCTC’s Latest Circular Inside
Indian Railway’s latest news today: Here is good news for people travelling by Rajdhani, Shatabdi, Duronto or Vande Bharat Express. Now, your morning tea in these premium trains will be cheaper even if you order on the go. Notably, the government has directed the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) not to levy service charges or convenience charges on food items ordered by passengers who do not opt for catering services at the time of ticket booking.
The development comes nearly two weeks after a passenger was charged a service charge of Rs 50 for tea worth Rs 20. The passenger had shared a picture of the bill on Twitter in which he was asked to pay 250% of the cost of tea on the Delhi-Bhopal Shatabdi Express train. “Tax 50 rupees on 20 rupees tea, the country’s economy has changed, so far only history has changed!” He tweeted. Of late, pictures of tax invoices were doing the rounds on Twitter and other social media platforms.
But Here’s A Catch!
However, the breakfast, lunch and dinner ordered on board will cost Rs 50 more for passengers (who have not opted for catering services while booking tickets) as compared to those who opted for it while booking tickets. The cost of morning tea will be the same for both categories of passengers.
Indian Railways Latest Circular on Service Charges Below
Issuing a circular to IRCTC, the Railway Board specified the charges for tea, breakfast, lunch and dinner for premium trains- Rajdhani, Duronto, Shatabdi and Vande Bharat. As per the circular, the prices are inclusive of GST, which means there will be no additional charges. Earlier, passengers were asked to pay a service charge of Rs 50 for not ordering food while booking tickets.
