IRCTC ticket cancellation process: Refund can be collected on submission of PRS counter ticket.

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), the online ticketing arm of the Indian Railways, enables railway ticket holders to cancel their reservations electronically. Using this service, individuals holding the Indian Railways' Passenger Reservation System (PRS) ticket - purchased from the Railways reservation counter - can cancel their reservation online through the IRCTC's bookings portal, www.irctc.co.in. Such cancellation is allowed through the mobile number as submitted at the time of booking the train ticket, according to the IRCTC website. (Also Read: Need A Refund Against Confirmed IRCTC Ticket? Here's How To Apply Online)

IRCTC has prescribed the following rules for cancellation of train tickets booked through railway counters:

For cancelling a PRS counter ticket online, an individual is required to enter details such as the PNR Number printed on the top left side of the ticket and the train number (printed adjacent to the PNR Number) in the specified fields on the IRCTC portal.

After clicking on submit, an OTP or one-time passcode is sent to the mobile number submitted by the ticket holder at the time of booking. The user can proceed by entering this OTP in the given space and clicking on "submit".

After the OTP is validated, PNR details are displayed on the screen.

Once these details are verified by the user, he or she can click on the "cancel ticket" option to proceed. The amount of refund is displayed on the screen after this step.

An SMS containing information on the PNR and refund details is sent to the mobile number submitted by the ticket holder at the time of booking.

For tickets cancelled (including return journey tickets) before 24 hours of scheduled train departure time

The refund can be collected on submission of original PRS counter ticket from any PRS counter of Indian Railways up to 4 hours before the scheduled departure time of the train in case of confirmed tickets, and up to thirty minutes before the scheduled departure of train in case of RAC/waitlisted tickets, according to the IRCTC website.

For tickets cancelled (including return journey tickets) between 24 hours and up to 4 hours for the confirmed tickets, and up to thirty minutes for RAC/waitlisted tickets before the scheduled departure time, the refund through the IRCTC website or telephone helpline number 139 is permitted only at the journey commencing station or nearby satellite PRS locations against surrender of the original journey ticket, according to IRCTC.

Cancellation of tickets and refund of fare may be permitted for PRS counter tickets in normal circumstances only and not in case of late running of trains/cancellation of train etc, according to IRCTC.