Rlys earned additional 20 pc revenue in ticket sales through dynamic pricing during 2017-19

The Indian Railways earned an additional 20 per cent revenue in ticket sales through dynamic pricing or flexi-fare during 2017-19, an RTI reply has revealed.

Of the Rs 10,072 crore earned by the national transporter in the said period, flexi-fare accounted for Rs 2,217 crore, it said.

Flexi-fare is applicable to only 141 of the 13,452 trains currently, after the Railway Ministry revised the scheme recently.

It is applicable only for AC two-tier, AC three-tier, AC chair car, sleeper and second class (reserved) tickets.

In 2017-2018, the railways earned Rs 4,901 crore from ticketing, including Rs 1,063 crore from flexi-fare.

In 2018-2019, flexi-fare contributed Rs 1,153 crore to the total earnings of Rs 5,171 crore of the national transporter from ticket sales.

The scheme was launched in 2016 and was applicable to the Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto trains, allowing 10 per cent of the seats to be sold at normal fare and thereafter, increasing the fare by 10 per cent with every 10 per cent of berths sold with a ceiling of 50 per cent.

Replying to a question in the Lok Sabha, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal had recently said there were no plans to discontinue the flexi-fare system as it was generating additional revenue.

The application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act was filed by Madhya Pradesh-based activist Chandrashekhar Gaur.