Fact Check: Is the concession for senior citizens being restored by Indian Railways

New Delhi, Jun 17: A post has gone viral with the claim that starting July 1, the Indian Railways will resume discounting tickets for senior citizens.

The social media post claims that the concessions will be 40 per cent for males above the age of 60 and 50 per cent for women above the age of 58.

This post is however fake. It may be recalled that in May, Railways Minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw had said that the concession for senior citizens could not be resumed because the Railways was already operating at a subsidised rate. He made the statement while speaking to reporters at IIT Madras.

The rumour began on a Facebook Page Rail Mail. It said that the Indian Railways was set to resume concessions for senior citizens starting July 1. However the claim was later retracted and an apology too was posted. Railways has currently refused to get some sort of exemption in regards to senior citizen concession.

We apologize for the wrong update, the post said.

In view of the OVID-19 protocols which came into effect from march 20 2020, the Railways indefinitely discontinued with concessions with the exception only for Divyangjan, 11 categories of patients, and students.

The Railway Minister in March this year said in the Lok Sabha that there was no plan to restore the concessions for senior citizens.

A #Fake media report is claiming that the Indian Railways will resume concessions for senior citizens from July 1, 2022. No such announcement has been made by
@RailMinIndia. Indian Railways is currently providing concessions to divyangjans, patients & students only, PIB Fact Check also said.