Indian Railways refunded Rs 33 to a Kota-based engineer two years after a long battle over charging him the amount as service tax despite him cancelling the ticket prior to the implementation of GST.
Going by the reports, Sujeet Swami, the 30-year-old engineer booked the tickets in April 2017, before the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), and subsequently cancelled. It was booked for a journey on July 2, 2017, a day after the new tax regime came into force.
Swami fought the battle to obtain a refund of Rs 35 from the The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) for the cancellation of a Kota-Delhi train ticket but received the amount after deduction of Rs 2.
“Rs. 100 was deducted instead of Rs 65 against cancellation of a wait listed ticket. I have been following up the case since 2017 and was given only assurances that the amount would be refunded,” Swami said.
The extra amount of Rs 35 was charged to him as service tax, even though he cancelled the ticket prior to the implementation of GST.
IRCTC in its reply to the RTI filed by Swami, said that as per the commercial circular number 43 of the Ministry of Railways, for tickets booked before the implementation of GST and cancelled after implementation, service tax charged at the time of booking shall not be refunded.
So, Rs 100 (Rs 65 as clerical charge and Rs. 35 as service tax) was charged against the cancelled ticket.
