India · Travel
Pick what happened with your train ticket and see whether a refund applies, how much comes back, and the exact deadline to claim it — plus what a TDR is and how to file one on IRCTC.
Pick your situation
Choose the scenario that matches what happened — late train, AC failure, partial travel, and so on.
Read the eligibility
The checker shows whether a refund applies, how much comes back, and whether a TDR filing is needed at all.
Note the deadline
Every TDR reason has a hard filing deadline — some as tight as before the train departs.
File on IRCTC
Follow the filing steps shown, keep the TDR reference number, and expect 60–90 days for verification.
TDR is the full form of Ticket Deposit Receipt — the manual refund claim you file on IRCTC when an ordinary online cancellation cannot express what went wrong. It covers railway-caused failures and rule-recognized situations: the train ran three or more hours late, the AC stopped working, you were put in a lower class than booked, part of your group did not travel, or a late first train made you miss a connection. You file it against the PNR, the railway verifies it against actual running records, and the money follows if the reason holds up.
Every TDR reason carries its own clock, and missing it voids even an obviously valid claim. Two common cases need no TDR at all — the railway handles them automatically.
| What happened | What you get back | Deadline to act |
|---|---|---|
| Train was cancelled by the railwaysNo TDR needed | 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 preparationNo TDR needed | 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. |
| I simply changed my plans less than 8 hours before departure | No refund | — |
If you are simply changing your plans and the ticket can still be cancelled online, that is a cancellation, not a TDR: charges follow the refund slabs and the money returns in days rather than months. Work out the exact rupee amount with the IRCTC cancellation charges calculator. A TDR is for when the railway, not you, changed the plan — and it cannot rescue a voluntary cancellation made inside the no-refund window.
Normal cancellations are self-service: you cancel online, a charge is deducted, the rest comes back in days. A TDR exists for everything that self-service cannot express — the railway failed you in some way, or the situation has its own rule. The claim is not instant money: it is a verified claim, checked against the train’s actual running data and on-board records, which is why TDR refunds take 60–90 days while cancellation refunds take three to seven.
When in doubt, file first from the IRCTC app and gather paperwork second — the deadlines in the table above are hard, and the strongest claim in the world lapses once its window closes.
Equally important is what a TDR is not: a way to soften the no-refund window. Voluntary cancellation inside 8 hours of departure refunds nothing, and picking a TDR reason that did not actually occur just produces a rejection two months later. If you are deciding whether to cancel a ticket you can still cancel normally, our cancellation charges calculator shows exactly what each timing window returns.
An ordinary cancellation follows the refund slabs, not the TDR rules. The refund calculator shows the rupee amount you actually get back.
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Last reviewed
July 17, 2026
Content update
Auto-updated on Jun 28, 2026
Scope: Scenarios and deadlines follow published IRCTC/Indian Railways refund rules. Individual TDR outcomes are decided by the railways after verification against running records and can differ.
Most refund questions after a bad train day are really one question: does my situation qualify, and how long do I have? This checker walks the nine most common scenarios — railway-cancelled trains, 3+ hour delays, AC failure, class downgrades, RAC and waitlist cases, partially travelled group tickets, and missed connections — and answers eligibility, refund extent, and deadline for each.
It also tells you when a TDR is not needed: fully waitlisted e-tickets and railway-cancelled trains refund automatically, and filing an unnecessary TDR only slows things down.
Your train is running four hours late and you decide not to travel: that qualifies for a full refund, but the TDR must be filed before the train actually departs your boarding station — file it from the IRCTC app the moment you decide. Compare that with an AC failure en route, where you have 20 hours after arrival and claim the AC/non-AC fare difference with the TTE’s certificate.
Eligibility is rule-based per scenario: railway-caused events (cancellation, 3+ hour delay, AC failure, downgrade, missed connection) refund in full or as a fare difference; passenger-side cases (RAC/WL not travelled, partial group travel) refund minus clerkage or cancellation charge; voluntary changes inside the no-refund window get nothing. Each scenario carries its own filing deadline, from before-departure to 72 hours after arrival.
TDR stands for Ticket Deposit Receipt. It is a manual refund claim filed on IRCTC for situations where normal online cancellation does not apply — the train ran 3+ hours late, the AC failed, you were shifted to a lower class, part of a group did not travel, and similar cases. The claim is forwarded to the railways, verified against actual train running records, and refunded if the reason checks out.
Log in to irctc.co.in, go to My Account → My Transactions → File TDR, select the ticket and the passenger(s), choose the reason from the dropdown, and submit. Note the TDR reference number — refund status can be tracked under TDR History.
Typically 60–90 days. Unlike instant cancellation refunds, every TDR is manually verified against the train’s running data and on-board records (like TTE certificates), which is what takes the time.
If the train is running 3 or more hours late and you decide not to travel, the TDR must be filed before the train actually departs from your boarding station. File it from the IRCTC website or app as soon as you decide not to board — waiting until after departure forfeits the claim.
No. TDR reasons are a fixed list of railway-caused or rule-recognized situations, and claims are verified against records. A voluntary change of plans inside the no-refund window is not a valid TDR reason and will be rejected.
For on-board issues — AC failure, travelling in a lower class, part of a group not travelling — yes, ask the TTE for a certificate during the journey. The certificate number goes into the TDR and claims without one are much more likely to be rejected.
Log in to irctc.co.in and go to My Account → My Transactions → TDR History. Each claim shows its current stage — registered, forwarded to railway, or refunded/rejected — against the TDR reference number you received when filing.
The rejection reason appears in TDR History — most rejections are a mismatched reason, a missed deadline, or a missing TTE certificate. If the facts genuinely support your claim (for example, the train really was 3+ hours late), raise it with IRCTC customer care ([email protected]) or through RailMadad citing the TDR reference number and the train’s actual running data. There is no fee to escalate, but a claim rejected on deadline grounds is rarely reversed.