Railways earned additional ₹8,913 crore in five years by withdrawing senior citizens' concession: RTI
The Hindu
Indian Railways earns ₹8,913 crore by withdrawing senior citizen concessions, sparking debate on affordability and welfare state responsibilities.
The Indian Railways has earned an additional revenue of approximately ₹8,913 crore in five years by withdrawing concessions for senior citizens, according to replies from the Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) on a Right to Information Act (RTI) applications.
CRIS functions under the Railway Ministry and develops as well as maintains ticketing and passengers data besides offering various other services.
The question of restoring concessions on train tickets for senior citizens was raised in the Parliament by members on several occasions, however, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has said the Railways already pays 46% concession on an average to every passenger.
Males and transgenders over the age of 60 and females over the age of 58 used to avail 40% and 50% discounts respectively on train tickets for all classes before March 20, 2020, when the Railway Ministry withdrew it owing to COIVD pandemic.
The data of passengers as well as revenue generated from them, accessed under the RTI Act, suggested that between March 20, 2020, and February 28, 2025, 31.35 crore senior citizens (male, female, transgenders) travelled paying an additional amount of ₹8,913 crore owing to suspension of concessions.
"I filed multiple applications under the RTI Act from March 20, 2020, onwards with the Railway Ministry and the most recent one was in March 2025. When I analysed the data, I found that approximately 18.279 crore males, 13.065 crore females and 43,536 transgender passengers, all senior citizens, travelled between March 20, 2020, and February 28, 2025,” Chandra Shekhar Gaur, an RTI activist from Madhya Pradesh said.
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