The recent hike in the passenger fare segment will make you want to reconsider your travel plans for sure. 15th November onwards, an extra 14% service tax along with 0.5% of Swachh Bharat cess will be levied on the passenger tickets.
Here’s everything that you need to know about these charges;
- The charges are applicable only on upper-class railway fares and not on general and sleeper class travel.
- In totality, there will be an increase of 4.35% on passenger fares in the First class and all AC classes.
- These changes have been made deeming the Swachh Bharat cess notification on all taxable services from November 6.
- The levied taxes ( 14% Service tax & 0.5 % Swachh Bharat cess on 30% total passenger fare ) are equivalent to 4.35% of the total fare on the First class & AC fares.
- An expected INR 1000 crore will be added to railway’s account from these charges.
- Annual earnings for the railway department from the passenger segment are estimated to be INR 35,000 crore.
These charges will be applicable only on tickets issued after 15th of November 2015. That said, fares on express trains and mail trains from New Delhi to Mumbai will go up by INR 206 while the AC III fares for New Delhi to Howrah will be somewhere around INR 106. Likewise, on Delhi-Chennai route INR 140 will increase in the AC II category.
About the author:
Shewali loves to cook. She is mostly travelling; if not blabbering or gorging. That’s all folks!
