New Delhi, Mar 21 (IANS): To contain the spread of the novel coronavirus pandemic in the country, the Indian Railways has asked the passengers not to come immediately to the reservation counters to cancel their tickets and relaxed the refund period of cancelled tickets up to 45 days.

In a statement the railway ministry said that all rules for e-ticket remain the same as passenger does not need to come to station for refund of ticket.

"This relaxation is for journey period from March 21 to April 15," it said.

The railways said that in case the train is cancelled by Indian Railways for journey period March 21 March to April 15, then refund across counter can be taken on submission of ticket up to 45 days from date of journey. Earlier, to cancel a ticket booked from the reservation ticket, the passenger needs to submit the ticket from three hours to 72 hours.

The railways further said that if the train has not been cancelled by the national transporter and the passenger does not want to continue his or her journey, "then ticket deposit receipt (TDR) can be filed within 30 days from date of journey at the station".

It also said that TDR can be submitted to CCO/CCM Claims office for getting the refund with 60 days of filing of TDR subject to verification from train chart.

The railways also said that the passengers who want to cancel ticket through 139 can get refund across the counter within 30 days from the date of journey instead of extant rule of up to scheduled departure of the train.

Earlier, the national transporter cancelled over 245 pairs of trains in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. The railways as a precautionary step also increased the prices of the platform tickets at over 500 railway stations from Rs 10 to Rs 50 to control the huge rush at the stations.