IRCTC refund request for agents: cancellation, OTP and TDR steps

How do you submit an IRCTC refund request?

1. Check that a PNR exists. Open your booking history. No PNR means the booking failed: there is no ticket to cancel and nothing to file. Failed bookings follow a separate route.
2. Get the customer’s request in writing. IRCTC’s agent policy says an agent may cancel only on the customer’s request, and must hold a written request before any TDR is filed.
3. Sign in with the agent ID that made the booking, using the right link from the IRCTC agent login page. IRCTC’s refund rules say a TDR can be filed only by the user who booked the ticket.
4. Cancel the ticket. Open the PNR (the IRCTC Operations portal has a Cancel a PNR option), select only the passengers being cancelled and confirm. The deduction and the refund amount appear on screen after the cancellation succeeds. If some passengers are still travelling, they need a fresh Electronic Reservation Slip (ERS).
5. Verify the passenger’s OTP. IRCTC sends a refund code to the passenger mobile number entered at booking. The passenger shares it with you, and the refund is not processed until it is verified. See how to verify the OTP for an IRCTC cancellation or refund.
6. File a TDR only if the interface still asks for one. If the ticket could not be cancelled in the normal way and the agent interface offers a TDR for your case, choose the reason that matches what happened. Where the reason needs a certificate from the ticket checking staff, the original goes to IRCTC by post.
7. Record the reference and pay the customer. Note the PNR, cancellation date and OTP verification date together. When the refund reaches your SiOnline wallet, pass it on to the customer with the refund details.

What changed for TDR in 2026?

On 24 March 2026 the Ministry of Railways announced a set of ticketing reforms (PIB release 2244597). Three of them change how agents handle refunds:

The release does not give a start date for each change.

If you are unsure which route applies to a ticket today, ask SiOnline support before you tell the customer anything about the outcome. Older documents, including IRCTC’s 2015 refund rules, still describe TDR filing with time limits; do not quote those limits as current.

Which TDR reasons does IRCTC list?

These are the reasons, word for word, in IRCTC’s Refund Rules and TDR Filing document (section 14, effective 12 November 2015). They are still the best map of which railway-side events can justify a refund claim. The decision on acceptance and amount is taken by the Zonal Railway, not by IRCTC and not by SiOnline.

The same document says agents can file TDR online or by email to IRCTC’s nominated address from their registered email, with the PNR, quota, train number, journey date and each passenger’s name, age, sex and reason. A passenger who simply changed plans is a cancellation, not a TDR.

How long does an IRCTC refund take?

Each stage has its own clock, and only some of them are published.

The agent policy is IRCTC’s Revised Agent Policy for E-ticketing PSPs (effective 29 November 2019). Do not give the customer a date for a stage nobody has published.

Does the refund go to your wallet or to the customer?

To your wallet first. IRCTC credits a cancellation or TDR refund to the same account the ticket was booked from, and for a SiOnline agent that is your SiOnline retailer ID balance. It arrives automatically once IRCTC approves it, without a call or WhatsApp from you. You then pay the customer.

• Cancellation refund: pay the customer straight away, and give them the refund details at cancellation.
• TDR refund: explain the TDR process, take the customer’s contact details, and pay them when the amount reaches your wallet.
• No cancellation charge: the agent charge (₹40 AC / ₹20 non-AC per PNR) applies to booking only. Do not add anything for cancelling. Whether the original booking charge comes back is a separate question; check the refund breakdown line by line.
• Customer cannot be reached: the agent policy says an unpaid TDR amount must go back to IRCTC after 5 business days, so keep contact details on file.

What about Tatkal refunds?

A confirmed Tatkal ticket can be cancelled, but IRCTC’s Tatkal FAQ says ordinary cancellation of a confirmed Tatkal ticket earns no fare refund. Waitlisted and RAC Tatkal tickets, and railway-side problems such as a berth not provided, follow different rules. Read the ticket’s status and the customer’s reason before you quote anything. The Tatkal ticket cancellation and refund guide for agents covers each case and gives wording for the counter.

Why does the cancellation OTP matter?

For an agent-booked ticket, IRCTC’s agent policy says the cancellation refund is not processed unless the correct OTP is verified. The code goes to the passenger mobile number entered at booking, not to your phone, so the customer has to share it.

If that number was entered wrongly, download the mobile number update format from Downloads and submit it with a copy of the customer’s Aadhaar signed by the customer, with every document signed only by the customer and scanned clearly. Submitting the form does not guarantee a refund: it is paid only if IRCTC approves it. The guide to changing the mobile number in a PNR walks through it.

How do you track an IRCTC refund?

1. Check your wallet statement for the credit against the PNR.
2. Check the TDR status where a TDR was filed. IRCTC’s agent policy says PSPs and agents can check TDR refund status on the web interface IRCTC provides. The policy routes status queries to IRCTC through the PSP, so raise them with SiOnline rather than IRCTC.
3. If a refund is pending, WhatsApp SiOnline support from your registered mobile with the PNR, the date the PNR was cancelled and the date the refund OTP was verified.

Why are refund requests rejected?

• OTP not verified, or verified against a wrong passenger mobile number.
• Filed too late. The 2015 rules set a limit for each TDR reason, some measured in hours. Claims for late running, for example, had to be made before the train actually departed.
• Wrong reason chosen. A claim is assessed under the reason you pick, so pick the accurate one rather than the one that might pay more.
• Missing certificate. Reasons such as AC failure need the original GC/EFT certificate from the ticket checking staff, sent by post.
• Confirmed Tatkal cancelled for a change of plan. No fare refund under the Tatkal rule.
• Ticket not cancelled in time. “Passenger Not Travelled” on a ticket that could have been cancelled normally earns no fare refund once the cut-off has passed.
• A false claim. It can lead to legal action and deactivation of the agent ID.

What to tell the customer before you file

Say all three of these at the counter:

• It is a claim, not a refund. It will be assessed against railway rules.
• It is not guaranteed. Some claims are rejected, and that is a normal outcome rather than an error.
• You will pay them when the money reaches you, not before, and you will not guess a date.

Keep the reference against the PNR in your own records. If an outcome seems wrong, call us with the PNR and the reference. We cannot overturn a railway assessment, but we can often tell you what a decision means and whether it is worth pursuing.

Not an agent yet? IRCTC agent registration through SiOnline gives you an agent ID that can book, cancel and claim refunds for customers within IRCTC’s rules.