Fact Check: Railways will not resume concessions for senior citizens from 1 July
Social media users are claiming that the Indian Railways will resume concessions for senior citizens from 1 July. They say the Railways will provide a 40% discount on tickets for men above the age of 60 and 50% discount for females above the age of 58.
By Newsmeter Network Published on 22 Jun 2022 6:15 AM GMT
Hyderabad: Social media users are claiming that the Indian Railways will resume concessions for senior citizens from 1 July. They say the Railways will provide a 40% discount on tickets for men above the age of 60 and 50% discount for females above the age of 58.
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Fact Check
The Indian Railways has not announced concession for senior citizens and neither has any media organisation reported the same.
Earlier last month, Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said concessions for senior citizens cannot be resumed as the Railways is already operating at a subsidised rate. "For every Rs. 100 spent towards operational expenses, the Railways collects only Rs. 45 from a passenger. We have to contribute to keeping the railways a sustainable mode of transport," she said. (Source: The New Indian Express)
The senior citizen concession was suspended for two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic. A Hindustan Times report quoted Ashwini Vaishnaw as saying that due to challenges posed by Covid-19, the total passenger revenue generated during 2020-2021 was less compared to 2019-2020 (pre- Covid period). This led to the Railways incurring a heavy cost in granting concessions that made granting concessions, including to senior citizens, undesirable.
Moreover, the Press Information Bureau fact-checked the claim about resuming senior citizen concession and said the claim was fake. It said no such announcement has been made by the Railways.
Evidently, the Indian Railways will not resume concessions for senior citizens from 1 July. The claim is false.
