The Indian Railways have decided to slash the prices of AC chair car and Executive Classes of all trains by up to 25 percent.

This discounted amount is for trains having occupancy of less than 50 percent during the last 30 days, a statement from the Ministry of Railways said on Saturday.

This comes as the Railway Ministry announced that it was delegating powers to the Zonal Railways to introduce discounted fare scheme in trains with AC chair cars.

The statement said, “With a view to optimize utilization of accommodation in trains, Ministry of Railways has decided to delegate powers to Zonal Railways to introduce discounted fare scheme in trains with AC sitting accommodation, subject to terms and conditions.”

Meanwhile, the ministry also said that reservation charge, super fast surcharge, GST, etc, as applicable, shall be levied separately. The discount scheme will be applicable for all trains having AC Sitting Accommodation including Anubhuti and Vistadome Coaches, the Railway Ministry said.

The discount can be given for the first and/or last leg of the journey and/or intermediate sections and/or end-to-end journey provided the occupancy is less than 50 percent in that leg/section/end-to-end.

In case of trains where flexi fare is applicable in a particular class and the occupancy is poor, the scheme can be withdrawn initially as a measure to increase the occupancy.

This scheme shall not be applicable on special trains introduced as holiday and festival specials.

Further, Tatkal quota will not be applicable on these trains till the discounted fare scheme is valid.