Indian Railways' 45-Paise Travel Insurance at Counter Tickets Explained: Rs 10 Lakh Cover, Who Qualifies, and How to Opt In From 27 October 2026
Key Takeaways
- From 27 October 2026, passengers booking reserved tickets at PRS counters can opt for travel insurance, a facility previously limited to IRCTC e-tickets.
- The move follows the Supreme Court's 6 October 2026 order in Union of India v. Radha Yadav and the Railway Board's 24 October 2026 letter to all zonal railways.
- The premium is 45 paise per passenger including taxes, with cover up to Rs 10 lakh for death or permanent total disability, Rs 7.5 lakh for permanent partial disability, Rs 2 lakh for hospitalisation and Rs 10,000 for transportation of mortal remains.
- Only Indian citizens with confirmed, RAC or partially confirmed tickets are eligible; passengers must opt in at booking, give a mobile number for SMS policy details, and pay the premium digitally.
- If the ticket is cancelled, 9 paise of the premium is deducted along with other cancellation charges, and the existing e-ticket scheme terms apply equally to counter policies.
What Changed on 27 October 2026
From 27 October 2026, passengers who buy a reserved train ticket at a railway station counter can also buy optional travel insurance at the same counter. Until now, this facility was available only to passengers who booked e-tickets through the IRCTC website or app. The extension closes a gap that had existed for years between online and offline booking: two passengers on the same train could have very different protection simply because one booked on a phone and the other at a station window.
The change follows a Supreme Court order of 6 October 2026 in the case Union of India v. Radha Yadav. In that order, the Court directed that, with effect from 27 October 2026, all tickets sold over the counter at all railway stations should also be covered by insurance in the same manner as tickets purchased online, and that the direction must be implemented mandatorily, with responsibility resting directly on the Railway Board. Acting on that direction, the Railway Board wrote to all zonal railways on 24 October 2026, asking them to be ready to offer the facility at Passenger Reservation System (PRS) counters from 27 October 2026. The Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS), working with IRCTC, made the software changes needed in the reservation system.
It is important to be precise about what the Court did and did not decide. Reporting of the order notes that the Court's direction did not itself specify the premium or the counter procedure. Those details come from the Railway Board's letter and from the existing Optional Travel Insurance Scheme (OTIS) for e-tickets, whose terms the Board has said will apply equally to policies issued for PRS counter tickets. So the 45-paise premium and the coverage amounts below are the scheme's terms as extended to counters, not figures written into the Court's order.
What the 45-Paise Premium Buys
The premium is 45 paise per passenger, inclusive of taxes — the same amount that e-ticket passengers already pay. In return, the policy provides coverage of up to Rs 10 lakh in the event of death or permanent total disability arising from a covered railway accident or untoward incident during the journey. Permanent partial disability is covered up to Rs 7.5 lakh, hospitalisation expenses for injuries up to Rs 2 lakh, and transportation of mortal remains up to Rs 10,000. These are upper limits under the policy's terms and conditions, not guaranteed payouts in every incident: whether and how much is paid depends on the nature of the incident and the policy wording.
The premium is strikingly small, and that is the point of the scheme. Forty-five paise is a fraction of even the cheapest reserved ticket, which is why the extension matters most for passengers who were previously excluded rather than for the amount of money involved. For a family of four travelling on one PNR, the total insurance cost is Rs 1.80. The trade-off is that the cover is narrow: it is travel accident cover tied to the journey, not general life or health insurance, and it does not cover every misfortune that can happen while travelling.
Who Can Take It — and Who Cannot
The facility is optional, and it is not available to everyone who travels by train. It applies to Indian citizens holding confirmed, Reservation Against Cancellation (RAC), or partially confirmed reserved tickets. If the insurance option is selected for tickets booked under a single PNR, all eligible passengers on that PNR receive coverage. Children below five years of age who travel without a berth or seat are not eligible, while children aged five to eleven are eligible whether or not they have a berth.
Unreserved and general-class passengers are not covered under this scheme, since it is tied to reserved tickets booked through PRS counters or IRCTC. Fully waitlisted passengers, whose tickets do not confirm, are likewise outside the categories the scheme names. Passengers should therefore check their ticket type before assuming they are covered: holding a ticket is not the same as holding an insured ticket, because the insurance must be actively opted into at the time of booking.
How to Opt In at the Counter
The process at a PRS counter has a few steps that differ from simply buying a ticket, and passengers who know them in advance will have a smoother experience. First, tell the booking clerk that you want the travel insurance option, and select it on the revised reservation form. Railway staff have been directed to inform passengers about the availability of the scheme before booking, and some zones, such as Western Railway, are making revised forms available at all PRS centres — but asking explicitly is still the safest approach, especially in the first days of the rollout.
Second, provide a valid mobile number. This is mandatory for counter bookings under the scheme, because the policy details are sent to the passenger by SMS. The number must be recorded accurately: if it is wrong, the policy information will go to the wrong phone. Third, pay the premium digitally. Cash is not accepted for this insurance charge at PRS counters, so the premium must be paid through a digital mode along with the fare. Passengers who normally pay cash at the counter should therefore carry a digital payment option if they want the cover. Finally, keep the SMS and the ticket safely until the journey is over. The SMS is the passenger's record of the policy, and it will carry the details needed if a claim ever has to be made.
What Happens If You Cancel
If a ticket with insurance is cancelled, 9 paise of the 45-paise premium is deducted, along with the usual cancellation charges. In other words, 36 paise is refunded as part of the cancellation process. This follows the same approach as the existing e-ticket scheme, where a small part of the premium is retained on cancellation. Passengers should not expect the full premium back, but the amount involved is so small that the deduction is a detail rather than a deterrent. The larger cancellation charges on the fare itself are unchanged by the insurance.
Why This Extension Matters
The most important effect of the change is equal treatment. Before 27 October 2026, a passenger who booked online could add Rs 10 lakh of accident cover for 45 paise, while a passenger standing in a queue at the same station could not, however much they wanted it. That distinction had nothing to do with risk — the two passengers could end up in adjacent berths — and everything to do with the booking channel. The Supreme Court's intervention, and the Railway Board's rapid implementation within three weeks, removed that distinction.
The change also matters because of who books at counters. Millions of passengers still buy tickets in person: people without smartphones or reliable internet access, elderly passengers, those who are uncomfortable with online payments, and people in areas with poor connectivity. For them, the counter is not a second choice but the only choice, and until now the insurance scheme simply did not reach them. Extending the scheme to counters therefore widens financial protection to exactly the group that previously had the least access to it.
There is also a practical benefit for the Railways. A standard, low-cost, opt-in product with a uniform premium is easy to explain at a counter and easy to administer through the reservation system. Because the premium and terms mirror the e-ticket scheme, staff do not have to learn a new product, and passengers who have seen the option online will recognise it at the window.
The Limitations to Keep in Mind
The scheme is not a complete answer to passenger safety, and its limits deserve honest attention. First, the digital-payment requirement cuts both ways. It makes the scheme workable at counters, but it also means that a passenger who only carries cash cannot buy the cover, even though cash passengers are among the most likely to book at counters. This is a real, if narrow, exclusion built into the rollout, and it is worth watching whether the Railways find a way to accept cash for the 45-paise charge in future.
Second, the cover is only as good as its terms. The headline figure of Rs 10 lakh applies to death or permanent total disability in covered incidents; lesser injuries attract lower limits, and incidents outside the policy's definition of a covered accident or untoward incident may not be covered at all. Passengers should read the policy details sent by SMS rather than assuming that every injury or loss during a journey qualifies.
Third, the first days of any nationwide rollout can be uneven. The software changes were still being tested shortly before launch, according to CRIS officials, and readiness depends on each zonal railway preparing its counters, forms and staff. If a counter cannot yet offer the facility, passengers may need to ask, or try again, rather than assuming the scheme does not exist. Teething problems in week one would not mean the scheme has been withdrawn.
Finally, insurance is not a substitute for safety. It provides financial help after an incident; it does not prevent accidents, improve tracks or coaches, or replace the Railways' own responsibilities towards passengers. Its value is real but limited, and it should be judged on those terms.
What Passengers Should Do Now
For anyone booking a reserved ticket at a station counter from 27 October 2026 onwards, the practical checklist is short. Ask for the insurance option when you hand over the reservation form, and confirm that it has been selected before the ticket is printed. Give a mobile number you can access during and after the journey, and double-check it. Pay the 45-paise premium digitally per passenger. Save the policy SMS with the ticket, and read the coverage details it contains. If you are booking for a family, remember that the option on one PNR covers all eligible passengers on that PNR, so you do not need a separate decision for each person — but you do need to opt in once, at booking time, because the facility cannot be added after the ticket is issued.
For passengers who already book online, nothing changes: the e-ticket insurance option continues exactly as before, at the same premium and with the same coverage. The only change is that counter passengers now have the same choice.
Conclusion
The extension of optional travel insurance to PRS counter tickets is a small change with a clear logic: the same journey, the same risk, and now the same choice, regardless of how the ticket was bought. At 45 paise per passenger for up to Rs 10 lakh of cover, the cost is negligible and the protection, while narrow, is meaningful for families who could least afford an accident's financial consequences. The scheme's success will depend on the details — counters actually offering it, staff informing passengers, mobile numbers being captured correctly, and the digital-payment rule not shutting out cash-only travellers. Passengers who understand the eligibility rules, the opt-in step, and the limits of the cover will be best placed to use it well. For everyone else, the message is simple: the next time you book at a counter, ask about the 45-paise insurance before you leave the window.