How much is deducted if I cancel a confirmed train ticket?

More than 72 hours before departure you lose only the flat charge for your class — ₹240 in AC First and Executive, down to ₹60 in Second Sitting, plus 5% GST on AC classes. Between 72 and 24 hours you lose 25% of the fare, between 24 and 8 hours you lose 50%, and inside 8 hours of departure a confirmed ticket earns no refund at all. The flat charge is a minimum, so on a cheap ticket the percentage slab may not bite.

Do I get a refund if I cancel less than 8 hours before the train?

Not on a confirmed ticket. Under the rules effective 1 April 2026, voluntary cancellation inside 8 hours of scheduled departure carries no refund. RAC and waitlisted tickets are different: they can be cancelled up to 30 minutes before departure and refund the fare less clerkage.

What is the refund on a waitlisted ticket?

A fully waitlisted e-ticket is cancelled automatically when the chart is prepared and the fare comes back less clerkage of ₹60 plus GST per passenger — ₹63 in total. No TDR and no action are needed. Only counter-booked waitlisted tickets have to be surrendered at a reservation counter.

Is a Tatkal ticket refundable?

A confirmed Tatkal ticket gets no refund on cancellation, at any notice. Tatkal tickets that are still RAC or waitlisted are refunded like any other RAC or waitlisted ticket, less clerkage. The exception is when the railway is at fault — a cancelled train or a 3-hour delay refunds a confirmed Tatkal ticket in full.

What is a TDR and when do I need to file one?

A Ticket Deposit Receipt is a claim you raise when something went wrong that ordinary cancellation cannot handle — the AC failed, you were moved to a lower class, the train ran more than 3 hours late and you chose not to travel, or you missed a connection. You do not file a TDR to cancel a ticket, and a TDR cannot turn a change of plans into a refund: claims are verified against the train running record.

How long does an IRCTC refund take to arrive?

A straightforward online cancellation is normally credited back to the payment source within 3 to 7 working days. TDR claims take considerably longer because they are verified before settlement — typically 60 to 90 days, and sometimes longer where a TTE certificate has to be matched against the on-board record.

Cancellation Charges, Refunds & TDR

Reviewed on August 1, 2026 • Author: Railmonk Research Team • Reviewer: Travel Review Desk • 11 min read

Rules reviewed 1 August 2026

Cancelling a train ticket is two different transactions wearing the same name. One is voluntary — you changed your mind, and the railway keeps a share of the fare that grows as departure approaches. The other is a claim: something went wrong that was not your doing, and you are asking for money back that the ordinary cancellation flow will not give you. The first is a button. The second is a TDR. Confusing them is the single most common way people lose a refund they were entitled to.

Voluntary cancellation: the three thresholds

Under the rules effective 1 April 2026, a confirmed ticket falls into one of four bands, measured from the train’s scheduled departure:

When you cancel	What you lose	On the example ticket
More than 72 hours before	The flat charge for your class only	₹1422 back
72 to 24 hours before	25% of the fare (or the flat charge, whichever is higher)	₹1350 back
24 to 8 hours before	50% of the fare (or the flat charge, whichever is higher)	₹900 back
Less than 8 hours before	The whole fare — no refund	₹0 back

The example is a single AC 3-Tier ticket for two passengers at ₹1800, and the figures in that last column are computed by the same engine that powers the cancellation calculator — put your own fare in and it will do the arithmetic for your ticket rather than this one.

The 8-hour cliff is the one to remember. Between the 24-hour and the 8-hour mark you still recover half the fare; a few hours later you recover nothing. On the example ticket that is the difference between ₹900 and ₹0. If a trip is looking doubtful, deciding the evening before is worth real money.

The flat charge by class

The flat charge is both the whole deduction in the earliest band and the minimum deduction in every other band. That second role is what surprises people on cheap tickets: 25% of a small fare can easily be less than the flat charge, and the flat charge wins.

Class	Flat charge	With GST, per passenger
AC First Class / Executive (1A/EC)	₹240	₹252
AC 2-Tier (2A)	₹200	₹210
AC 3-Tier / AC Chair Car / AC 3 Economy (3A/CC/3E)	₹180	₹189
Sleeper (SL)	₹120	₹120 — no GST
Second Sitting (2S)	₹60	₹60 — no GST

GST of 5% applies to the cancellation charge on AC classes only. Sleeper and Second Sitting are charged flat. And the charge is per passenger, not per ticket — a family of four cancelling a Sleeper booking loses four times ₹120, not one.

RAC and waitlisted tickets: clerkage, and a 30-minute deadline

RAC and waitlisted tickets do not use the slabs at all. They refund the fare less clerkage of ₹60 plus GST — ₹63 per passenger — and the deadline is much later than for a confirmed ticket: up to 30 minutes before scheduled departure. Miss that half-hour and the refund is gone entirely.

There is one case where you do not have to do anything at all. A fully waitlisted e-ticket is dropped automatically at chart preparation and refunded less clerkage, without a cancellation and without a TDR. This is also why boarding on one is a serious mistake — the ticket no longer exists, so it is a ticketless journey. An honest read of your waitlist number beforehand is worth more than the refund.

RAC is not auto-cancelled. Only fully waitlisted e-tickets are dropped at charting. An RAC ticket is a valid ticket to travel on, so nobody cancels it for you — if you are not going to use it, you have to act at least 30 minutes before departure yourself.

Tatkal: confirmed means non-refundable

A confirmed Tatkal ticket earns no refund on cancellation, however much notice you give. That is the trade for jumping the queue, and it is not a slab you can beat by cancelling early. Tatkal tickets still sitting at RAC or waitlisted are treated like any other RAC or waitlisted ticket and refund the fare less clerkage.

The exception is fault. If the railway cancels the train, or it runs more than three hours late and you decide not to travel, a confirmed Tatkal ticket is refunded in full like any other. Non-refundable describes your change of mind, not theirs. The Tatkal charges calculator shows what the premium costs before you commit to it.

When you need a TDR instead

A Ticket Deposit Receipt is a claim against a specific qualifying event. You are not cancelling; you are telling the railway that something happened and asking it to check the record. Each scenario carries its own deadline, and the deadlines are short — most claims that fail, fail on timing rather than merit.

Situation	You get back	Deadline
Train was cancelled by the railways	Full fare, automatically	No action needed for e-tickets — refund is automatic. Counter tickets: surrender at a reservation counter within 3 days of scheduled departure.
Train is running 3+ hours late and I chose not to travel	Full fare	File the TDR before the actual departure of the train from your boarding station.
AC was not working for part of the journey	Difference between AC and non-AC fare for the affected distance	File the TDR within 20 hours of the train’s actual arrival at your destination.
I was made to travel in a lower class than booked	Difference between the booked-class and travelled-class fare	File the TDR within 2 days of the date of issue of the certificate from the TTE.
Ticket was RAC / partially waitlisted and I did not travel	Fare minus clerkage (₹60 + GST per passenger)	File the TDR (or cancel online) at least 30 minutes before scheduled departure.
E-ticket was still fully waitlisted at chart preparation	Fare minus clerkage, automatically	No action needed — fully waitlisted e-tickets are auto-cancelled and refunded at charting.
Some passengers on the ticket travelled, others did not	Fare for the confirmed passengers who did not travel, less the cancellation charge	Get a certificate from the TTE, then file the TDR within 72 hours of the train’s actual arrival.
Missed my connecting train because the first train ran late	Full fare of the missed (untravelled) leg	File the TDR within 3 days of the scheduled departure of the missed connecting train.

The TDR refund checker walks through these case by case, including the ones that are not eligible.

The TTE certificate is the evidence

Three of those claims — AC failure, travelling in a lower class than booked, and a partly used group ticket — depend on a certificate you can only get on the train. Ask the TTE at the time, note the certificate number, and photograph it. Once you have got off, the claim is your word against a record that does not mention you, and it will be rejected.

A TDR is not a way to cancel late. Filing one because you changed your plans inside 8 hours does not work: TDR reasons are verified against the train running record, and a claim with no qualifying event behind it is refused. It also costs you weeks of waiting to find that out.

How long the money takes

A normal online cancellation is credited back to the original payment method in roughly 3 to 7 working days. TDR claims are slower by design, because each is verified before it is settled — plan on 60 to 90 days, and longer where a TTE certificate has to be matched against the on-board record. Neither is instant, and chasing on day three achieves nothing.

Counter-booked tickets refund at a counter, not to a card. If you booked at a window, you surrender at a window — and for a cancelled train, within three days of scheduled departure.

The short version

Confirmed tickets: flat charge beyond 72 hours, 25% inside 72, 50% inside 24, nothing inside 8.
The flat charge is a minimum and is charged per passenger — on cheap tickets it beats the percentage.
RAC and waitlisted: fare less ₹63 clerkage, but you must act 30 minutes before departure.
Fully waitlisted e-tickets cancel themselves at charting. RAC does not.
Confirmed Tatkal is non-refundable unless the railway is at fault.
File a TDR only for a qualifying event, and get the TTE certificate before you get off the train.

Most of the money lost to cancellation charges is lost to a clock rather than a rule. The bands are published, the deadlines are fixed, and the only genuinely irreversible one is the eight-hour mark.