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.
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.
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.
The single most useful thing to internalize is that every TDR reason has its own clock. A 3-hour-late train refunds in full — but only if you file before the train actually leaves your station. AC failure gives you 20 hours from arrival. A partially travelled group ticket gives 72 hours, and needs the TTE’s certificate collected during the journey. Miss the window and the strongest claim in the world lapses. When in doubt, file first from the IRCTC app and gather paperwork second.
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.
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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.
A TDR (Ticket Deposit Receipt) 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.