New Delhi:The Government has no plans to resume the concession in railway fares given to the senior citizens and sportspersons prior to March 2020. Replying to the questions raised by NCP MP Mohammad Faizal and Congress MP Anto Antony, the Ministry of Railways, in its written reply on Wednesday, said that the restoration of concessions to Senior Citizens and Sports Persons passengers is not desirable as the passenger fare in most of the classes is "already very low".
As per the ministry’s written reply filed in Lok Sabha, the passenger segment over Indian Railways suffered a recurring loss due to low fares and concessions to different categories of passengers. The data made available by the ministry shows substantial revenue loss due to concessions given to senior citizens. Revenue forgone due to concessions in passenger fares to senior citizens during 2017-18, 2018-19, and 2019-20 is Rs 1491 crores, Rs 1636 crores, and Rs 1667 crores respectively.
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"Indian Railways is already bearing more than 50% of the cost of travel on an average for all passengers including Senior Citizens on account of lower fare structure for passenger services. Apart from this, due to Covid-19, passenger earnings for the last two years are less in comparison to 2019-20. These have a long-term impact on the financial health of the Railways. Cost of granting concessions weighs heavily on Railways, hence extending scope of concessions to all categories of passengers including senior citizens is not desirable,” read the reply filed by Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnav.
Indian Railways continues giving concessions in fares to four categories of persons with disabilities, eleven categories of patients and students. Before the concessions for Senior Citizens in passenger fares were suspended in March 2020, data presented by the Ministry shows that 22.62 Lakh senior citizens opted to give up the concession scheme in passenger fares.
