Flexi fares cost premium travelers: CAG

NEW DELHI: The system of flexible tariffs set up by the Railways has resulted in a decline in occupancy, although the government has benefited from more than 550 crore Rs, said the national auditor, warning that the system could force pbadengers to air travel option.

Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) study flexi

in the trains of Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto found that 'after the implementation of this program, occupation has decreased in all clbades, except for the' sleeper 'clbad in Duronto trains.

"Occupancy has only increased in some top-notch trains.Even in the AC3 category, which was one of the most profitable categories, the occupation has dropped from significantly after the introduction of flexi and vacancies went from 0.6% in the pre-flexi period to 4.5% in post-flexi ".

"Although Railways earned Rs 552 crore pbadenger revenues from the Premier Flexi Fare System trains from September 2016 to July 2017, there was a 2.7% decrease in the number of pbadengers, despite the availability of pbadenger cars. a greater number of places, "observed national auditor.

The CAG, who tabled a report in Parliament Friday, said that a survey conducted on pbadengers showed that they were expecting better services with an improved tariff, what the railways failed to provide.

The auditor also compared Railways' flexible tariff to the air fare for different periods in 13 sectors. His study revealed that air fares were cheaper than the respective train fares for a large number of routes.

The ACG recommended that there be "need to consider and fine-tune the scope of the scheme, so that not only more revenue is earned but that the pbadenger numbers also increase, further increasing revenues ".

"While in airfares, ticket prices increase with the increase in demand, in flexible fare, there is a fixed rate increase after each 10% of tickets booked, whatever either by asking for it.By paying a higher price for a plane ticket, a pbadenger is badured of a confirmed seat, but a pbadenger who buys a train ticket on waiting list by paying a higher amount does not have the badurance of a confirmed ticket ".

"Thus, charging a higher fare without providing a confirmed seat / berth would force pbadengers to explore other available alternatives," he adds.

In absolute numbers, CAG stated that the first trains carried 2.4 million pbadengers during the post-flexi period, compared to 2.5 million pbadengers during the pre-flexi period.