Indian Railways 20% Return Fare Discount: Dates, Eligibility, How to Book

New Delhi, August 9: The Indian Railways has quietly fired the first shot in what could be this year’s fiercest travel season scramble announcing a 20% rebate on the base fare of return tickets through a newly introduced “Round Trip Package for Festival Rush” scheme. The idea is simple but pointed: lock in your festive season seat early, and the railways will reward you with a modest but tangible saving.

The scheme goes live for bookings from 14 August 2025, aimed squarely at the Diwali–Chhath travel window when trains are often booked out weeks in advance. According to the Railways Board circular cited by The Economic Times, the rebate applies only to the return leg of a journey and is valid across all classes and trains, barring premium services with flexi-fare pricing like Tejas, Shatabdi, Rajdhani, and Duronto.

Structured Around Peak Festive Travel

To qualify for the offer, passengers must begin their onward journey between 13 October and 26 October 2025 a period coinciding with the rush of pre-Diwali travel. The return journey must be booked for 17 November to 1 December 2025, the traditional window for homebound passengers after the twin festivals of Diwali and Chhath Puja.

Both tickets must be for the same passengers, same origin–destination pair, and same class, with a clear condition: they must be booked together under the same mode. That means either both booked online through IRCTC (using the Connecting Journey feature) or both purchased at an offline reservation counter.

Not Just A Discount, But A Commitment Lock

This is not a scheme for the casual traveler. The no-refund and no-modification clause means once booked, you are committed. “The intent is to decongest last-minute rush and give predictable load factors for planning,” a senior railway official told The Financial Express. There is no scope for adding concessions like travel coupons, passes, or privilege ticket orders.

Interestingly, if there is any fare difference when the charts are prepared, passengers will not be asked to pay the extra a small but rare gesture from the otherwise tight-fisted fare policy.

A Push For Early Bookings

The festival season typically sees trains overshooting capacity, with tatkal quotas snapped up within minutes. The Indian Railways’ decision to roll out this scheme appears to be a calculated move to spread out demand over weeks, rather than having ticket counters and servers choke in the final days before the festivals.

Zonal railway administrations have been instructed to go beyond formal notifications pushing the scheme through station announcements, press releases, and social media campaigns.

What It Means For Passengers

For a family of four traveling sleeper class from Delhi to Patna a popular Diwali route the base fare for the return leg could see a saving of around Rs 300 to Rs 400, depending on the train and distance. In AC classes, the saving can be significantly higher. However, passengers must remember that the discount is only on the base fare, not on reservation charges, superfast surcharges, GST, or any other fee components.

Travel agents and booking clerks say the scheme will appeal most to passengers who can plan months in advance. “If you’re certain about your dates, this is a no-brainer,” said a booking agent at New Delhi station. “But for those whose return plans might change, the no-refund rule is a risk.”

A First For Festival Rush Management

While Indian Railways has run special festival trains for decades, a pre-announced fare rebate tied to a round-trip booking is relatively new. The model borrows from airline-style pricing tactics where return bookings lock customer loyalty. Whether the scheme will actually dent the last-minute booking chaos remains to be seen.

That said, the move sends a signal: the Railways is increasingly willing to experiment with pricing to manage peak-load stress. If successful, similar round-trip rebates could become a fixture in future holiday seasons.

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Kavita Iyer

Business & Economy Analyst – [email protected] – Web

Former financial consultant turned journalist, reporting on markets, industry trends, and economic policy.

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