In some bad news for Indian rail passengers and illegal railway booking agents, the advance booking period for tickets has been reduced to 60 days and will take effect from May 1, 2013. The recent step has been taken so as to reduce the enormous amount of cancellations that take place after bookings.
Earlier, the railways had provided facilities to book tickets 120 days in advance. A notification was issued on April 25, 2013, which had declared that the advance reservation period has been reduced to 60 days from 120 days, starting from May 1, 2013.
The notice also said that those bookings which are done up to April 30, 2013, under the existing ARP of 120 days will not be changed. The railway officials went on to say that the recent move will help genuine travellers and will reduce the illegal agents or touts from booking most of the tickets in advance. So far, no change has been introduced to the ARP limit of 360 days for foreign tourists.
The cancellation of bookings will be permitted for those tickets which have already been booked beyond the time duration of 60 days. As a precautionary measure, tatkal tickets are now being issued when a person produces a self-attested photocopy of a valid identity proof.
