Passengers booking tour packages with the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) will soon have to pay less. Railway board chairperson Ashwani Lohani has directed for reduction in the service charge — from 25% to 15% — levied on the tickets booked through IRCTC’s website.
IRCTC offers various tour packages, which include train tickets and charges for sightseeing. The corporation reserves 5% to 15% of the seats in trains covering the route under the packages. At present, it levies 25% service charge on fare of such tickets.
Lohani visited the tourism office in Delhi on December 26 and asked officers to promote rail tourism. In his letter dated January 3, he said the potential in value added tour packages offered by the IRCTC is “huge”.
“There is sufficient justification for reducing the service charge from 25% to 15% or even below so as to improve the competitiveness of the packages with consequent positive impact on tourism,” he said in his letter.