Here are the new IRCTC service charges for booking tickets

Booking IRCTC e-tickets have become costlier from September 1 as the railways' catering and tourism arm restored service charges on online e-ticket booking. Last month, the Railway Board gave its approval to the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation
(IRCTC) to restore the mechanism of charging service charge from passengers booking online tickets following which the charges were restored from September 1.

In a letter dated August 30, the Board had said that IRCTC had made a "detailed case" for the restoration of service charge on booking of the e-ticket and the matter has been examined by the "competent authority". The convenience fee on online tickets bought through IRCTC was waived three years ago in order to promote digital payments in the country. Earlier, Indian Railways used to levy a service charge of Rs 20 on every non-AC e-ticket and Rs 40 for every AC e-ticket. 

Here are the new service charges levied on online ticket booking:

1. As per IRCTC website, a convenience fee of Rs 15 + GST will be charged for Second Sitting (2S) and Sleeper (SL) class tickets.

2. For all other classes, IRCTC will levy Rs 30 + GST convenience fee on e-ticket booking. 

3. Payment through UPI or BHIM applications will attract less service charges. According to the IRCTC release, the convenience fee will be Rs 10 per ticket for non-AC classes. For AC classes, the service charge will be Rs 20 per ticket if you book through any UPI or BHIM apps.

It is worth mentioning that train tickets on the internet can be booked from 00:20 hrs (12:20 am) to 23:45 hrs (11:45 pm) on all days, according to IRCTC website- irctc.co.in. A maximum of 6 tickets can be booked by an individual user in a month via IRCTC's website or mobile app. 

However, users whose IRCTC accounts have been verified through Aadhaar ID are eligible to book 12 tickets per month. The ceiling limit of 12 tickets for the individual users is available where accounts are verified through Aadhaar ID and one of the passengers in the ticket booked is verifiable through Aadhaar.