IRCTC to stop free travel insurance from 1 September, 2018

A not so happy news for the frequent train travellers; the IRCTC (Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation) has decided to stop free travel insurance starting September 1 this year. Now, travellers will have to choose from two options, either to opt-in or opt-out of travel insurance during the time of ticket booking from the website.
The IRCTC has been giving free travel insurance to passengers from December 2017 in order to promote digital transactions. It is also noticeable here is that the Indian Railways has also waived of ticket booking charge for users, who make payments via debit cards.

The travel insurance provided by the IRCTC is consistent for all classes. This insurance had a maximum cover of INR 10 lakh in case of person’s death during the train journey, INR 7,50,000 if a person is disabled due to accident, INR 2,00,000 if injured and INR 10,000 for transportation of mortal remains.
A thing to remember here is that children below 5 years are not covered under this insurance. To provide travel insurance to users, the IRCTC had tied up with ICICI Lombard General Insurance, Royal Sundaram General Insurance and Shriram General Insurance. In return, 92 paisa per commuter was paid to the insurance firms on behalf of the railway corporation.

Now, from September 1, the travel expense will have to be taken up by the travellers themselves. As of now, it is not yet clear as to how much a commuter will have to pay for the insurance.