COVID Effect: Railways' Earnings Dip By 94% Over Stoppage Of Platform Ticket Sales

The Indian Railways has suffered a severe hit in earnings from platform ticket sales in 2020-21, according to an RTI. Revenue from sale of tickets dipped by 94 per cent due to the restrictions imposed on entering railway stations during the pandemic.

In reply to an RTI filed by Chandra Shekhar Gaur of Madhya Pradesh, Railways said that it earned ₹ 10 crore till February 2021 in platform ticket sales. It is a massive dip compared to the record earning of ₹160.87 crores in 2019-2020.

Restrictions And Losses

To reduce overcrowding at the stations, the Railways imposed restrictions last year. Several zones completely prohibited the entry of any person seeing off a passenger and only allowed valid ticket holders into the station.

Before 2020-21, Railways witnessed growth in revenue from platform ticket sales. In 2018-19, railways made ₹ 139 crore in platform ticket sales. That figure shot up to ₹ 160.87 crores in 2019-20, the highest in the last five years before falling to ₹ 10 crore in 2020-21.

Over the last year, the seventh-largest employer in the world suffered from massive revenue losses in multiple segments. According to a report by Business Today, the Railways lost ₹ 38,017 crore in passenger earnings in the last fiscal due to the coronavirus crisis.

With the decline in the number of daily Covid cases, Indian Railways is easing restrictions. The Northern Railways, on Saturday, June 12, announced that the sales of platform tickets would resume in eight major stations of Delhi Division.

The price of platform tickets has been hiked to ₹ 30 from ₹10. The Railways has maintained that the price hike is temporary and will prevent the unnecessary crowding at railway stations.

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