Railways withdraws service charge on food, drinks on premium trains

The Indian Railways has withdrawn on-board service charges for all meals and beverages that are not pre-ordered on premium trains. However, there will be no change in meal prices as they have been increased by ₹50.

The prices of tea and coffee will now be the same for all passengers – those who have pre-booked as well as those who order in on-board the train, and will see no increase in the rates.

Prior to this, if a person had not booked their meals along with their train ticket, they had to pay a service charge of ₹50 while ordering food during the journey. This was applicable even for a cup of tea or coffee that cost about ₹20/cup. A lot of passengers had taken to social media, posting pictures of the bills, where ₹20 tea/coffee costed ₹70.

Now, travellers on-board premium trains like Rajdhani, Duronto or Shatabdi who haven’t pre-booked their meals, will pay between ₹15-35 for tea (similar to the amount paid by those who pre-booked their meals), depending on the ‘fare class’ they are travelling in. However, for meals that have not been pre-booked, the rate remains the same as service charges have been added to the cost of the meal. For example, the rates for breakfast, lunch and evening snacks in 2AC or 3AC were ₹105, ₹185 and ₹90, respectively, which have now been increased to ₹155, ₹235, and ₹140, respectively.