Now, cancel your confirmed train ticket by just dialing 139

Railway passengers can now cancel their confirmed train tickets by just dialling 139.

A person has to dial 139 and give details such as PNR number and train number of the confirmed ticket to get it cancelled. The sender will then get a one-time password (OTP) which he/she will have to give at the Passenger Reservation System ( PRS) counter to claim refund. Besides 139, one can also cancel confirmed tickets using the IRCTC website.

The move came after railways made cancellation norms stricter by doubling the ticket cancellation charges and bringing the rule that passengers won't get any refund if confirmed tickets are not cancelled four hours before the train's departure.

After the change in refund rules, a lot of passengers were finding it difficult to reach counters to cancel the reserved tickets within the stipulated time, and as a result, were losing money. Launching the service, railways minister Suresh Prabhu said this is an attempt to make cancellation of tickets easier for the public.

He said railways has its own challenges for carrying out an expansion programme. "We have to expand the railway infrastructure for which fund is required. We have to increase the income for this and all these have to be carried out in a transparent manner. It is a challenging task," Prabhu said.

Image credit: Indiatimes