New Delhi, January 11: In a good news for passengers, they have to now pay less for booking tour packages with the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC). Railway board chairperson Ashwani Lohani has directed for reduction in the service charge by 10 per cent — from 25 per cent to 15 per cent — levied on the tickets booked through IRCTC’s website.
IRCTC offers various tour packages across the country, which include train tickets and charges for sightseeing. The corporation reserves 5 per cent to 15 per cent of the seats in trains covering the route under the packages. Currently the service charge is 25 per cent on fare of such tickets, the Hindustan Times reported.
On his visit to tourism office in the national capital on December 26, 2017, Lohani asked officers to promote rail tourism. Lohani even said that the potential in value added tour packages offered by the IRCTC is “huge”.
“There is sufficient justification for reducing the service charge from 25 per cent to 15 per cent or even below so as to improve the competitiveness of the packages with consequent positive impact on tourism,” he said in his letter dated January 3.