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Coverage

Rail delay

India — IRCTC Ticket Deposit Receipt (TDR) refunds for cancelled and substantially delayed trains

NationalINUnverified — check before relying on it

India

Rule id
rail.in
Version
1.0.0
In force from
November 12, 2015
Last read against its sources
August 5, 2026
Countries bound
India

In plain language

What this regime says.

India supplements (or, outside the EU, replaces) the EU rail passenger rights floor with IRCTC Ticket Deposit Receipt (TDR) refunds for cancelled and substantially delayed trains. This module names the scheme and the regulator and lists exactly which figures to go and check, because we could not verify them in this review cycle.

Who is covered

Rail passengers on services in India.

What you get

A fare refund via TDR where the train was cancelled or substantially delayed and you did not travel.

Where claims go wrong

  • Expecting compensation. The Indian mechanism is a refund, and only if you did not travel.
  • Missing the TDR filing deadline, which is measured in hours in some cases.
The official claim route

Authority

Every citation,
with its pinpoint.

A claim that cites “EU law” gets filed. A claim that cites Article 7(1)(c) gets answered. These are the exact coordinates this entry rests on.
  1. Railway Passengers (Cancellation of Tickets and Refund of Fare) RulesRailway Passengers (Cancellation of Tickets and Refund of Fare) RulesURL verified 2026-08-05

Sources

Where a figure is indexed, converted or published by a regulator rather than fixed in the instrument, the provenance is recorded separately. Anything marked as a modelled estimate is exactly that — a model, not a statutory number.

What it imposes

Clocks, defences and the ladder.

A rule module builds these while it evaluates, because a limitation period depends on which forum is open to you. What follows is the structure this regime produces — deliberately with no dates and no figures, because those belong to your facts rather than to the law.

What it entitles you to, beyond money

  • A claim under IRCTC Ticket Deposit Receipt (TDR) refunds for cancelled and substantially delayed trainsYou have a route. We are not stating what it pays, because we have not verified this network’s figures.

What the other side will say

Each of these is a refusal this regime lets a counterparty attempt, paired with the answer to it. Reading them before you write is worth more than any amount of polish on the letter itself.

"The delay was caused by Network Rail / the infrastructure manager / a third party"

high likelihood

The operator points at signalling failure, a broken-down freight train, trespass or someone else’s infrastructure and says the delay was not their doing.

What answers it

Under the contractual UK Delay Repay schemes, cause is irrelevant to your entitlement: the schemes pay on the delay, whoever caused it, and the operator recovers internally from the infrastructure manager. Under Regulation (EU) 2021/782 the railway undertaking is the passenger’s counterparty and only a genuinely exceptional, unavoidable circumstance excuses it — and a staff strike at the railway itself is expressly not one.

"Here is a voucher"

high likelihood

The operator settles in rail travel vouchers or credit rather than money, often at a discount to what is owed.

What answers it

You are entitled to be paid in money. UK operators must offer at least one monetary method — bank transfer, cheque or refund to the original card — and Regulation (EU) 2021/782 allows vouchers only where the passenger accepts them, meaning you can simply decline and ask for cash. A voucher is worth less than its face value to you and more than its face value to them, which is why it is offered first.

Where to take it next

  1. Claim under IRCTC Ticket Deposit Receipt (TDR) refunds for cancelled and substantially delayed trainsClaim directly with the operator, quoting the service, the booked and actual arrival times and your ticket reference. Keep the ticket and the booking confirmation.Claim directofficial page
  2. Ask for a written decision with reasonsIf the claim is refused, ask for the decision in writing with the reason and the delay figure the operator is working from. Regulators and ombudsmen will not act without it, and operators sometimes reverse the decision rather than write it down.Internal appeal
  3. Complain to Ministry of Railways; RailMadad for complaintsMinistry of Railways; RailMadad for complaints handles passenger complaints about rail services in this country.Regulatorofficial page

Documents

What this regime can produce.

Every one of these is a document you send yourself, in your own name. Duesday never writes to anybody on your behalf and is never anyone’s agent.

The same claim type elsewhere

Austria — ÖBB FahrgastrechteATNational — AustriaRegulation (EU) 2021/782 as applied in AustriaConfidence: lowBelgium — SNCB/NMBS compensation for delays and for repeated delays on season ticketsBENational — BelgiumRegulation (EU) 2021/782 as applied in BelgiumConfidence: lowEuropean Union — rail passenger rights (Regulation (EU) 2021/782)EUSupranational — 30 countriesRegulation (EU) 2021/782, Art. 19Confidence: highFrance — SNCF Garantie G30 (TGV INOUI, OUIGO and INTERCITÉS) and the TER regional guaranteesFRNational — FranceRegulation (EU) 2021/782 as applied in France, and SNCF’s commercial guaranteesConfidence: lowGermany — Fahrgastrechte (Deutsche Bahn and other German railways)DENational — GermanyEisenbahn-Verkehrsordnung and Regulation (EU) 2021/782 as applied in GermanyConfidence: lowGreat Britain — Delay RepayGBNational — United KingdomNational Rail Conditions of TravelConfidence: mediumItaly — Trenitalia and Italo delay compensation (bonus and indennizzo)ITNational — ItalyRegulation (EU) 2021/782 as applied in ItalyConfidence: lowNetherlands — NS "geld terug bij vertraging" (money back on delay)NLNational — NetherlandsRegulation (EU) 2021/782 as applied in the Netherlands, plus NS’s own schemeConfidence: low

Other rights in the same countries

India — DGCA Civil Aviation Requirements, Section 3 Series M Part IVINNational — IndiaDGCA CAR Section 3, Series M, Part IV, Paras 1.2, 1.3 and 1.7Confidence: highIndia — India PostINNational — IndiaPost Office Act 2023 and the Department of Posts rules and compensation scheduleConfidence: lowIndia — RBI e-mandate framework for recurring paymentsINNational — IndiaRBI circular DPSS.CO.PD.No.447/02.14.003/2019-20 (21 August 2019) — Processing of e-mandate on cards for recurring transactionsConfidence: mediumIndia — RBI limited liability for unauthorised electronic banking transactionsINNational — IndiaRBI/2017-18/15 — Customer Protection: Limiting Liability of Customers in Unauthorised Electronic Banking Transactions (6 July 2017)Confidence: highIndia — representative consumer complaints and s.245 Companies Act class actionsINNational — IndiaConsumer Protection Act 2019, s.35(1)(c) and s.2(5)Confidence: lowIndia — security deposit (Model Tenancy Act 2021 where adopted, otherwise State Rent Acts)INNational — IndiaModel Tenancy Act, 2021Confidence: lowIndia — the Clinical Establishments Act rate-display duty and the consumer forum routeINNational — IndiaClinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Act, 2010Confidence: lowIndia — unclaimed deposits (RBI DEA Fund and UDGAM) and unpaid dividends and shares (IEPF)INNational — IndiaBanking Regulation Act 1949, s. 26AConfidence: medium

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Not a law firm. Not legal advice. You send it yourself. This page describes a law; it is not advice about your situation and no outcome is promised.