INDIAN RAILWAYS PASSENGER TRAVEL INSURANCE SCHEME

CHANAKYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY

ECONOMICS - 1

ROUGH DRAFT ON
INDIAN RAILWAYS PASSENGER TRAVEL INSURANCE SCHEME

SUBMITTED TO SUBMITTED BY
DR. SHIVANI MOHAN ABHISHEK KUMAR
SUBJECT- ECONOMICS – 1 ROLL NO. – 1505

SEMESTER- 3rd

SESSION- 2016-2021

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Prof. (Dr.) Shivani Mohan
, for his invaluable support, guidance and advice. I would also like to thank my
parents who have always been there to support me. I would also like to thank the
library staff for working long hours to facilitate us with required material going a
long way in quenching our thirst for education. I would also thank my father who
plays a pivotal role in making my project.

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

 Whether Doctrinal or Non Doctrinal?

My research is a blend of doctrinal. Doctrinal in the sense that i have collected

theoretical material from different sources such as magazine and newspaper and
Internet resources.

Aims and Objective

Researcher wants to know the -

1. Purpose of Scheme.
2. How is it beneficial to traveler.
3. What are the Challenges to this Scheme.

Hypothesis
Researcher hypothesize that –

1. It is discriminatory in nature.
2. Poor people is deprived of this scheme.
3. Awareness Program should be run to achieve its goal.

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Chapterization
1. Introduction ……………………………………………………………5
2. Who can avail this Scheme…………………………………………….7
3. INDIAN RAILWAYS PASSENGER TRAVEL INSURANCE
SCHEME: Challenges…………………………………………………13
4. Conclusion and Suggestion…………………………………………….14

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Introduction

The first railway on Indian sub-continent ran over a stretch of 21 miles from Bombay to Thane.
The idea of a railway to connect Bombay with Thane, Kalyan and with the Thal and Bhore Ghats
inclines first occurred to Mr. George Clark, the Chief Engineer of the Bombay Government,
during a visit to Bhandup in 1843.

The formal inauguration ceremony was performed on 16th April 1853, when 14 railway
carriages carrying about 400 guests left Bori Bunder at 3.30 pm "amidst the loud applause of a
vast multitude and to the salute of 21 guns." The first passenger train steamed out of Howrah
station destined for Hooghly, a distance of 24 miles, on 15th August, 1854. Thus the first section
of the East Indian Railway was opened to public traffic, inaugurating the beginning of railway
transport on the Eastern side of the subcontinent.

These were the small’s beginnings which is due course developed into a network of railway lines
all over the country. By 1880 the Indian Railway system had a route mileage of about 9000
miles. INDIAN RAILWAYS, the premier transport organization of the country is the largest rail
network in Asia and the world’s second largest under one management.

The optional travel insurance scheme, introduced by Indian Railways Catering and Tourism
Corporation (IRCTC) from September 1 this year. The passenger will be given the option of
insurance cover at the time of booking the ticket on the IRCTC website. If the passenger decides
to opt for it, then the premium amount will be added to the ticket cost. The insurance company
will send an SMS or e-mail to confirm the policy number along with a link to update nomination
details. The scheme is being implemented on a pilot basis by IRCTC in partnership with ICICI
Lombard General Insurance, Royal Sundaram General Insurance and Shriram General Insurance
selected through a bidding process. According to Railways, the insurance company is required to
process the claim and send the cheque within 15 days of the receipt of the document. The claims
for compensation should be lodged within four months of the event/accident. The insurance
scheme is available on optional basis for all reserved classes (SL, 1AC, 2AC, 3AC) and trains
except passenger trains and sub-urban trains for tickets booked online on the IRCTC websites.

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This insurance scheme provide financial support to the family/legal heir in case of death/injury
of reserved passengers due to train accident/untoward incidents as defined under section 123
read with Sections 124 and 124A of the Railways Act, 1989.

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2.Who can avail this Scheme

Key Features of the IRCTC Travel Insurance

1. The scheme is available only to those passengers who book their tickets online. In the
future, the scheme may extend to the passengers buying tickets from counters also.
2. The insurance is optional. So the passengers who do not want to take the insurance can
opt out of the scheme.
3. This is the pilot period of the scheme and this pilot period will last for one year.

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4. The class of the ticket does not make any difference, the IRCTC Travel Insurance is
available for all the classes.
5. The passengers have to book their tickets through the official IRCTC website in order to
take benefits of the IRCTC Travel Insurance.
6. The premium of the IRCTC Travel Insurance is very low. It is even lesser than Re. 1.
7. If you book multiple tickets under only one PNR, the policy will necessarily cover all the
passengers. In such case, the authorities will increase the payable premium.
8. If you cancel the ticket for some reason, the refund of premium is not possible as of now.
9. The premium of the policy might depend upon the distance between the origin city and
the destination city. Also, it will depend upon the duration of the journey.1

Required Eligibility and Conditions for Applying Indian Railways Passenger Travel
Insurance Scheme:

1. The premium is Re. 92 paise per passenger inclusive of all taxes

2. Customer shall receive the policy information through SMS and on their registered email
IDs directly from Insurance Companies along with the link for filling nomination details.
However, Policy number can be viewed from Ticket booked history at IRCTC Page
3. After the booking of ticket, the nomination details to be filled at respective Insurance
Company site. If nomination details is not filled then the settlement shall be made with
legal heirs, if the claim arises
4. The coverage for the policy shall be for each passenger under the PNR in case of Death,
Permanent Total Disability, Permanent Partial Disability, Hospitalization Expenses for
Injury and Transportation of mortal remains following Rail Accident or untoward
incident
5. In case of passenger opting for insurance, the claim/liability shall be between insured and
the Insurance Company
6. In case of short termination of trains due to any reason, if the passenger opts for the
alternate mode of transportation arranged by railway upto the destination station, then

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this part of the journey of the passenger shall also be covered under the policy taken by
the passenger.
7. In case of diversion of train due to any reason, the coverage shall be for the diverted
route.
8. In case of vikalp train, the policy obtained by the passenger for covering this journey in
the original train shall be valid in the vikalp train also
9. Once the premium is paid by the passengers no cancellations is allowed. Accordingly, no
refund of premium will be made in all cases including waitlisted ticket
10. The coverage for Hospitalization Expenses for Injury is over and above the
death/permanent total disability/partial disability
11. The Travel Insurance Scheme shall be kept uniform for all classes

How to Apply for IRCTC Travel Insurance

The IRCTC Travel Insurance is available only at the official IRCTC website. So, all the
passengers who want this insurance for their travel need to follow the below steps.

1. Log on to the official IRCTC website.

2. You can then proceed to book your ticket as you do always.
3. After you finish the filling of form, you will notice a new option of “Travel Insurance”.
This is a checkbox and if you want the insurance, you can check it.
4. If you choose to take the insurance and select “yes” for Travel Insurance, the website will
prompt you to accept the terms and conditions. You can go through the terms and
conditions and accept them.
5. Once you accept the terms and conditions, the premium amount will reflect in your ticket
total.
6. After that, you can proceed to make the payment.

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7. As soon as the ticket is confirmed, the passenger will receive an SMS or an E-mail
confirming his insurance. The insurance company will send this SMS and it will contain
the policy number. Along with policy number, a link will appear.
8. You can use this link to update the details of the nominees in case some mishap happens
during your journey.
9. If the passenger does not fill the nominee details, then the policy will automatically take
the legal heirs of the person as the nominees.
10. You can then view the policy and insurance details at the tickets booked history page on
the official IRCTC website.

Are there any exclusions to the IRCTC Travel Insurance?

Yes. There are some exclusions that you should know about. read on to know about these
conditions of exclusion.

1. The passengers of the sub urban trains do not come under the passenger travel insurance
for now.
2. The tickets which are confirmed or RAC will come under the insurance. The other
waiting tickets are not covered.
3. Children who are not 5 years of age yet do not come under the passenger travel
insurance.
4. Foreign citizens also do not come under the passenger travel insurance.

What will the IRCTC Travel Insurance cover?

1. All the Indian passengers of the Indian railways, no matter what class they are travelling
in.
2. Passengers above the age of 5 years or equal to 5 years are covered.
3. Vikalp trains are also covered. Also, the short termination and diverted route is covered.
So, if the insured person chooses to travel by the alternate transport, the insurance will
cover him. However, the Indians railways should have arranged that alternate transport.
4. In case of death or permanent disability, the insured can claim Rs. 10 lakhs.

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5. In case of permanent disability but partial, the insured can claim up to Rs. 7.5 lakhs.
6. In case the train meets with an accident and the insured needs hospitalization, he/she can
claim up to Rs. 2 lakhs.
7. For the transportation of the mortal remains, the insured can claim up to Rs. 10,000.
8. For all the claiming and further proceedings to happen smoothly, the insured or the
nominees should claim the policy cover within 4 months of event.
9. When the claim is made, the insurance company is liable to send the claim money
through cheque within 15 days.2

Document Required for Applying Indian Railways Passenger Travel Insurance Scheme:

1. In case of Death Claim:

 Report of the Railway Authority confirming the accident of the train or untoward incident
 Report of the Railway Authority carrying the details of the passengers declared dead.
 Duly Completed Personal Accident Claim Form signed by Nominee / Legal Heir along
with the NEFT mandate details & cancelled cheque
 Photo identity proof of nominee
 For Death Claims, claim will be settled only to nominee declared at the time of buying
insurance through IRCTC portal
 In absence of nominee, claim will be paid to Legal Heir only – as per Legal Heir /
Succession Certificate

2. In case of Disablement Claim:

 Report of the Railway Authority confirming the accident of the train or untoward incident
 Report of attending doctor confirming the extent of disability
 Medical bills corresponding to doctor’s prescription
 Duly Completed Personal Accident Claim Form signed by insured / Nominee
 Attested copy of disability certificate from Civil Surgeon of that Hospital in which the
treatment has undergone stating percentage of disability
 Attested copy of FIR

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 All X-Ray / Investigation reports and films supporting to disablement

 Claim form with NEFT details & cancelled cheque of the beneficiary
 Photograph before & after disability3

3. In case of Hospitalization Expenses for Injury:

 Report of the Railway Authority confirming the accident of the train or untoward incident
 Discharge summary
 Original Hospital Bills and medical bills corresponding to doctor’s prescription Page 12
of 14
 Advance and final receipts (All receipts shall be numbered, signed and stamped)
 Prescriptions for medicines4
 Diagnostic Test Reports, X Ray, Scan, ECG and others including doctor’s advice
demanding such tests)
 Cash memos/bills for medicines purchased from outside

Application Procedure:

1. There is no such application procedure and the person can apply for this scheme at the
time of booking of tickets
2. After the booking of ticket, the nomination details to be filled at respective Insurance
Company site
3. Customer shall receive the policy information through SMS and on their registered email
IDs directly from Insurance Companies along with the link for filling nomination details

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4.INDIAN RAILWAYS PASSENGER TRAVEL INSURANCE

SCHEME: Challenges
It is only for E- ticketing.
A person can avail this scheme only when he books ticket on IRCTC. This Scheme is not
available on Counter ticket. Majority of people have not access to Internet even they have access
to internet but they are unaware of the procedure to book ticket on IRCTC.

Many people get their ticket from agent, cyber café and from other sources. They don’t bother to
mark the option of insurance. If box of insurance policy is not marked then no one either
nominee or insured person or legal heir claim for compensation occurred due to rail accident.
Agent or cyber café holder book ticket through IRCTC but they don’t bother to update or change
mobile no. and e-mail. If no. and e-mail are not change then link and message will not receive
and insured person is not entitled to get compensation if any mishap occur.

After getting link or message insured person has to fill the form of nominee and relation with
nominee then benefit of scheme can be availed.

The scheme is optional, however if the option is exercised it will be compulsory for all
passengers booked under one PNR number.

If box of insurance policy left unmark then one can not avail the benefit of insurance scheme. It
should be made compulsory and automatic. If any person book ticket on IRCTC insurance policy
box should mark automatically.

Govt. should increase its ambit to cover and provide maximum benefit to the whole Passenger
far above from any biasness whether they ticket.

This travel insurance scheme is only for a year after a year it may be elapse or it will be renew by
govt.

Procedure to claim compensation is hectic and lengthy.

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5.Conclusion and Suggestion

It is a good scheme launch by govt. for the citizen of India. Main motive of providing Insurance
scheme to traveler is to indemnify them from any loss, injury. This scheme can not indemnify to
deceased person but it consolidate his/her nominee or legal heir.

This huge insurance amount is given only by taking less than a single rupee. It is wonderful
scheme of govt. but it is irony that this scheme is not reach to a large no. of people and maximum
people are not getting benefit of this scheme.

Govt. should start awareness program to use IRCTC portal to book tickets so that they can avail
the benefit.

Govt. should increase its ambit to Counter ticket also because maximum people use that easy
portal but they can’t avail this benefit of this scheme.

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Bibliography
http://www.pradhanmantriyojana.org/

https://currentaffairs.gktoday.in

http://www.indianrailways.gov.in

https://govinfo.me

http://pib.nic.in

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