The Indian Railways has generated an additional revenue of around Rs 2,242 crore from senior citizen travelers by revoking the concession offered to them in the financial year 2022-23. This information was revealed in a Right to Information (RTI) response filed by Chandra Shekhar Gaur, a resident of Madhya Pradesh.
The national transporter had suspended the senior citizen concession after the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic on March 20, 2020. Between that date and March 31, 2022, the Railways had generated Rs 1,500 crore in excess. In the subsequent financial year between April 1, 2022 and March 31, 2023, it did not offer concessions to almost eight crore senior citizens, including about 4.6 crore men, 3.3 crore women, and 18,000 transgenders.
The move to revoke the senior citizen concession has been widely criticized by many senior citizens and their advocates, who claim that it is a violation of their rights. However, the Railways maintains that the decision was taken to rationalize its fares and increase revenue.
Senior citizens above the age of 60 are entitled to a concession of 40% on the basic fare of all classes of reserved accommodation. In addition, male senior citizens over the age of 60 and female senior citizens over the age of 58 are entitled to a concession of 50% and 30%, respectively, on the basic fare of all classes of Mail/Express/Rajdhani/Shatabdi trains.
The Railways had earlier suspended the senior citizen concession in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, it was widely expected that the concession would be restored once the situation improved. The decision to permanently revoke the concession has come as a surprise to many.
The move has been criticized by many senior citizens and their advocates, who claim that it is a violation of their rights. The National Platform for the Rights of the Elderly (NPRE) has written to the Railways Ministry, urging it to reconsider the decision.
The NPRE has pointed out that senior citizens are among the most vulnerable groups in society and that they require special consideration and support. It has also argued that the decision to revoke the concession is likely to have a disproportionate impact on low-income senior citizens, many of whom rely on the concession to travel.
The Railways, however, maintains that the decision was taken to rationalize its fares and increase revenue. It has argued that the senior citizen concession was leading to a significant loss of revenue and that revoking it was necessary to ensure the financial sustainability of the organization.
The decision to revoke the senior citizen concession is part of a broader effort by the Railways to increase its revenue and reduce its losses. The Railways has been facing significant financial challenges in recent years, and the Covid-19 pandemic has only exacerbated these challenges.
In addition to revoking the senior citizen concession, the Railways has also taken several other steps to increase its revenue. These include increasing the prices of tickets for premium trains, introducing dynamic pricing for tickets, and reducing the number of concessions offered to various groups.
The Railways has also been working to improve the efficiency of its operations and reduce its costs. This has included initiatives such as the electrification of tracks, the introduction of modern signaling systems, and the adoption of new technologies to improve the maintenance of trains and tracks.
Despite these efforts, the Railways continues to face significant financial challenges, and it remains to be seen whether the decision to revoke the senior citizen concession will help to address these challenges in the long term.
