Side Coverage and No Change: Non Refundable Tickets Want to Enter Reserved Seat

They want to distribute the sale of non-refundable tickets to long distance trains to second clbad cars and general cars. The Ministry of Transport has received a corresponding request from the deputies of the State Duma and the All-Russian Association of Pbadengers. The document is in "Izvestia". The ministry will review this proposal, said "Izvestia" in the Ministry of Transport. According to the Deputy Director General of the Federal Pbadenger Company (FPK, Russian Railways subsidiary), Oleg Nikitin, the extension of the car categories with non-refundable tickets will be done gradually, as the experience of the implementation of the new service.

Natalya Kuvshinova, the Duma's United Russia MP, has appealed to the Ministry of Transport to ask her to study the possibility of introducing non-refundable tickets for reserved seats and ordinary cars in Russia.

In a letter to the office, the parliamentarian said that she had received complaints from citizens "from different regions" about it. Representatives of the All-Russian Pbadenger Association made a similar request.

The MP offered the carrier the opportunity to "reduce the cost of reserved seat tickets and cars on sale at a non-refundable rate … without the approval of the FAS," says the letter of 17 January 2019 to the Head of the Ministry of Transport, Yevgeny Dietrich. .

For the moment, the sale of non-refundable tickets does not cover the reserved seat, their cost being subsidized by the budget and regulated by the State, the carrier can not therefore modify it at its discretion.

The Ministry of Transport confirmed to Izvestia the receipt of the letter and stated that the appeal would be examined.

– The response will be sent in the prescribed manner, – added the representative of the Ministry.

In Press service The FPK told Izvestia that the company would take part in the discussion on mechanisms to implement such an initiative.

On January 1, 2019, a law came into force allowing the sale of non-refundable train tickets for long distance trains.

Their particularity lies in the fact that in case of refusal of travel, such travel cards can not be handed over.

Some exceptions: the injury and the illness of the buyer, the death of a close relative or the cancellation of the train. Refunds in this case will be made no later than five days after departure. The law allows the sale of non-refundable tickets only to the so-called unregulated segment – the coupe, the north-east and cars with seats. Since January 20, ticket sales for such cars are already open in Russia, with discounts ranging from 5 to 20%. Given the 90-day sales depth, you can purchase a ticket for departing trains on April 19 and beyond. According to the FPK, during the first stage, only two trains will participate in the experiment: Moscow-Voronezh (with seats) and Moscow-Izhevsk (compartment). In the first of these, 102 places will be allocated and can be purchased at a preferential rate in the second – 64. The test period will run until May 1st.

The price of non-refundable tickets does not apply to reserved seats.

This is due to the fact that the reduction of the cost of train tickets in the reserved seat, as well as the increase, should be coordinated by the Russian railways with the anti-monopoly service. As a result, the reserved seat was not included in the list of non-refundable ticket categories in the current law.

Natalya Kuvshinova

According to the president of the All-Russian Association of Pbadengers, Ilya Zotov, the law that came into effect on January 1 puts those who use a reserved seat and a coupe in unequal conditions.

In addition, the authors of the letter to the Ministry of Transport proposed to expand the list of cases in which a pbadenger who purchased a non-refundable ticket may return it. According to them, the corresponding bill has already been drafted. According to him, it will be possible to return the money in the event of illness of family members or close relatives, even if they were not supposed to go together, explained Ilya Zotov. Similar amendments concerning nonrefundable airline tickets are currently being considered by the State Duma at second reading.

The extension of car categories with non-refundable tickets will be gradual, as the implementation of this new service will be acquired, said FPC Deputy Director General Izvestiya to Oleg Nikitin. He added that if we talk about a regulated segment, in the future, the practice of non-refundable tickets could be extended to ordinary cars that can accommodate day trains. But there could be technical difficulties with the implementation of this initiative, as the price in the regulated segment is set by the FAS, he added. In the anti-monopoly service at the time of delivery the number did not respond to the request of "Izvestia".

When the system is fully operational, up to 10% of the total number of tickets that FPK expects to make nonrefundable. From now on, only part of the premises can be sold under this program.

As Peter Ivanov, president of the FPP, said, about 60% of sales come from reserved seats and pbadenger cars. The carrier plans to increase pbadenger traffic by 1.5% thanks to the new service.

According to Pavel Ivankin, Director General of the Institute for Rail Transport Studies, since the regulated sector is subsidized by the State, the decision to allocate the non-refundable fare to reserved seats and general wagons will also depend on the Ministry of Finance. Therefore, according to the expert, one should not rely on the rapid appearance of non-refundable tickets on the reserved seat.

At the Ministry of Finance, "Izvestia" indicated that the question should be addressed to the relevant services, namely the SAF and the Ministry of Transport.

Since 2014, non-refundable flights are allowed to sell to Russian airlines. According to the amendments to the Air Code, carriers have the right not to return money to a pbadenger who has refused to travel without just cause. The exception, as in the case of train tickets, is the illness of the customer of the airline or his close relatives. The urgent reasons that prompted the return of the travel document are documented. The most common of these tickets Loukosterov. For foreign airlines, they are designated by the words Ticket is non refundable, the russian – Promo, Basic, Economy.

Alexander Volobuev