Railways have earned an additional revenue of about Rs 2,242 crore from them by canceling the concession given to senior citizen passengers in 2022-23. Indian Railways has given this information in response to an RTI. The national transporter generated revenue of over ₹1,500 crore between March 20, 2020 and March 31, 2022. This was the time when the facility given to senior citizens was suspended after the onset of the Covid pandemic.
In response to a Right to Information (RTI) filed by Chandra Shekhar Gaur of Madhya Pradesh, the Railways said that between April 1, 2022 and March 31, 2023, it did not provide concessions to nearly eight crore senior citizens, including about 4.6 crore men, 3.3 crore women and 18,000 transgenders.
The total revenue from senior citizen passengers during this period is Rs 5,062 crore, which includes an additional Rs 2,242 crore earned due to suspension of concession. This information was received in response to RTI.
There has been a steady increase in the earnings for the Railways from senior citizen fares. Between March 20, 2020 to March 31, 2022, Railways did not give concession to 7.31 crore senior citizen passengers. These included 4.46 crore male passengers aged 60 years and above, 2.84 crore female passengers above 58 and 8,310 transgender people.
Railways earned so much from senior citizens-
The total revenue from senior citizen passengers during 2020-22 was Rs 3,464 crore, which was Rs 1,500 crore more than what it would have earned if the concession was offered. During the financial year 2022-23, Railways earned Rs 2,891 crore from male senior citizen passengers, Rs 2,169 crore from female passengers and Rs 1.03 crore from transgenders.
The concessions which were withheld since March 2020 following the outbreak of Corona virus pandemic in the country, remain suspended till date. Back then, women senior citizen passengers were eligible for 50 per cent concession, while men and transgenders could avail 40 per cent across all classes. The minimum age limit for women to avail the concession was 58 years, while for men it was 60 years.
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