Over 50 lakh passengers opt for train travel insurance

New Delhi, Sept 15: More than 50 lakh passengers have opted for train travel insurance scheme till this afternoon making the passenger-friendly initiative a big hit.

Railways had launched the insurance facility as an optional scheme allowing a person to get an insurance cover of up to Rs 10 lakh on booking a train ticket online by paying just 92 paise.

The scheme was launched on September 1 and total 50,03,834 passengers have availed the facility by 2 PM (today), said a senior Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) official. A person booking a train ticket through the IRCTC website will be able to opt for travel insurance cover for a premium of 92 paise only. The response is very good since the launch of the scheme, said the official.

The new facility as part of the budget promise, is available to all passengers, excluding those travelling by suburban trains while booking online irrespective of the class.

The scheme offers travellers/nominees/legal heirs a compensation of Rs 10 lakh in the event of death or total disability, Rs 7.5 lakh for partial disability, up to Rs 2 lakh for hospitalisation expenses and Rs 10,000 for transportation of mortal remains from the place of a train accident or where an untoward incident, including terrorist attack, dacoity, rioting, shootout or arson, occurs.

The cover will not be applicable for children up to 5 years of age and foreign citizens. It will be for passengers holding tickets such as confirmed, RAC and wait-listed ones.

The scheme is being implemented by IRCTC in partnership with ICICI Lombard General Insurance, Royal Sundaram General Insurance and Shriram General Insurance selected through a bidding process.

A total of 19 companies had participated in the bidding process and 17 were found eligible. The three selected insurance companies will get to issue the insurance policy on a rotational basis through an automated system.

PTI