Berth allotted to someone else !

I had confimed tickets on the Sau Janata express with boarding point as Jamnagar on towards Mumbai. I intended to get in at Rajkot but the station quota was full so I had booked from JAM thinking that there just an hours difeerence between the arrival of the train to Rajkot station.

Much to my horror I found my berth was allotted to someone else when I got in at Rajkot. The grin on the passenger's face got me fuming and I had a heated argument with the TC who politely stuck the rule book to my face

The TC asked me to cancel the tickets online and said that I will get 50% refund. However what I gather from the irctc website is that I need to File TDR.

Is this correct ? How much %age of the amount can I expect to be refunded if I file TDR? Should I site - Passenger not travelled - as the reason for the refund ?


I am holding another such ticket where I intend to board at a station different from what the ticket says. As explained on the website I plan to go to the TTE office and get this changed before 24 hours of departure. Has anyone here done this ? Do they provide a fresh ticket or some document saying that the boarding point has now been changed ?

I just posted on a similar thread.
We did this earlier this year.
I get a scratch of paper from the officer of the reservation desk. On this I make the request. He warns me that he keeps the printout of the ticket, so make sure you have an extra copy. He makes the changes in the reservation system, I did not get any prove of this.

In the train the TEE has these changes on his list.

The TTE is Supposed to allot vacant berths to other passengers on WL/RAC. The fact that you did not board at the station where you were supposed to is enough for him to allot it to others.

Also the fact that you traveled on the train (there is nothing to indicate that you did not travel) means that you are not entitled to a refund, irrespective of what the TTE said.

The TTE showed me a chart which mentioned that my reservation/ticket stands cancelled since I did not board the train at Jamnagar. Also the reservation chart was updated with name of the 'new' passenger. I think that should be the evidence for the railways that I did not travel and am eligible for a refund.

From the irctc website if a e-ticket is cancelled after chart preparation I assume a TDR needs to be filed. It does not mention how much of the amount is refunded though it mentions the deadlines and the timelines.

Anyone filed a TDR and got a refund before ?

You did travel on the train didnt you? Then how can you claim a refund on the basis of not boarding?
Just because the TTE's chart shows your berth allocated to someone else does not necessarily mean you did not travel.

I did not travel ! Why would I be enquiring about refund if I did ?
Donated a small fortune to the ailing airline industry for a 40 min flight.

if this was an e-tkt, you can file TDR (not sure if you missed the time window or not) online with IRCTC. ideally, you should expect refund within 1-2 months.

if this was an i-tkt or booked from counter, you should have cancelled the tkt at the window & received credit to your account (in case of i-tkt) or cash (in case of regular tkt). if the time window is crossed, you have to file TDR manually.

You didn't reply to the bold part either way, so I assumed you did travel. Apologies for that.

You can file a TDR and a refund will be processed in about days. Its an established process and refunds are received.