After Supreme Court order, Railways extends travel insurance scheme to counter tickets

FOLLOWING THE Supreme Court order, the Railway Board has extended the optional travel insurance facility to passengers booking reserved tickets through offline mode or from railway counters. Earlier, the facility was available only for reserved tickets booked online.

The board on Saturday directed all railway zones to ensure the facility at railway counters by October 27, as ordered by the top court, and also asked the staff to inform the passengers about its implementation.

According to existing IRCTC guidelines, the scheme applies only to Indian citizens and is provided only for confirmed, partly confirmed, and RAC (Reservation Against Cancellation) tickets at the time of booking.

The passengers will be charged 45 paise premium per counter ticket, the same as the e-ticket premium. The payment of the premium will be done digitally only.

“Where a passenger opts for insurance, the applicable premium shall be collected along with the ticket fare through digital means only… Reservation staff shall ensure that the mobile number (mandatory) along with requisite passenger particulars are captured accurately in accordance with the prescribed reservation procedure, so as to facilitate transmission of the relevant details to the insurance company for issuance of the policy,” said the Board.

It further said adequate instructions shall be issued to reservation supervisors and counter staff. Passengers opting for insurance shall be informed that the policy details will be communicated through their registered mobile number.

The existing terms and conditions of Optional Travel Insurance Scheme (OTIS) for e-ticket passengers, as issued by IRCTC, will be equally applicable to insurance policies issued for tickets purchased through counters.

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In an order dated October 6, the SC ordered the Railway Board to extend the insurance facility to offline or counter tickets. Though over 87% of the railway tickets are booked online, a lot of passengers coming from remote areas still rely on counter tickets for travel.

“Court has granted sufficient time to the authorities to devise a mechanism for extending such coverage to persons belonging to the lowest strata of society, who, in most cases, purchase their tickets at the railway reservation counters while undertaking journeys by train,” said the top court.

Travel insurance is necessary for passengers to get compensation in the wake of train accidents and any untoward incidents leading to deaths and injuries. While the Railways has to mandatorily pay compensation in such cases as per the existing law, it also offers the option of third-party travel insurance as a protection cover.

The scheme covers death, permanent total disability, partial disability, and hospitalisation expenses for injury and transportation of mortal remains following rail accidents or untoward incidents.

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The sum insured under the insurance scheme ranges from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 10 lakh, based on the severity.

While the scheme will now cover all reserved class passengers, the second class or general class passengers who comprise the majority of those travelling via trains are still not covered under the existing policy.

The travel insurance is also not applicable for children below 5 years of age who book the ticket without a berth or a seat. It is, however, applicable for children of 5-11 years of age who book the ticket with berth or without berth.