Source: As worded by Indian Railways, Government of India

Cancellation and Refund of E- Tickets

The electronic reservation slip cannot be cancelled at any regular counter of the Railways. The electronic reservation slip can only be cancelled online.

Cancellation Before Charting

The passenger can cancel the E- Ticket before charting by logging in his User ID and password on the irctc.co.in. Cancellation is not possible through any other User ID and password. Upon cancellation of ticket, IRCTC will process the refund electronically and credit the amount in same account which was used at the time of booking of tickets.

Cancellation After Charting

For confirmed Tickets

The passengers will have to make an online request through filing TDR. The claim will be processed by Zonal Railways Claims Offices by Train Chart verification, Train Running information etc., available with them and decide admissibility of refund. On receipt from Railways, IRCTC will refund the amount electronically to the passengers account. The passenger is not required to approach any railway counter for the purpose of cancellation.

Fully Wait Listed Tickets

• Fully waitlisted tickets are those tickets in which on one PNR, all the passengers are on waitlist. Such PNRs are dropped from the reservation charts at the time of preparation of Final Train Charts and refund is credited to customer account automatically.
• Such passengers are not required to send online request for cancellation. IRCTC will cancel such tickets after due verification and process refunds electronically.
• On a PNR which has all the passengers on waiting list at the time of charting, the name of such waitlisted passengers will not appear in the charts and such passengers, if found travelling, will be treated as unauthorized and charged accordingly. However, on a PNR which has some passengers confirmed or RAC status and some on waiting list, all the names including those on waiting list will appear in chart.

Part confirm/RAC/Waiting List

• If on one PNR there is more than one passenger and at least one passenger is having confirmed/RAC status and rests are on waiting list, names of all the passengers booked on such PNR will appear in the chart.
• A certificate can be obtained from the Ticket Checking staff in the train regarding non-travelling of wait-listed passengers on such tickets and refund can be obtained thereafter by sending online TDR request. Such request will be processed by Zonal Railway Claims Offices.
• If all such passengers do not want to travel before chart preparation, online cancellation can be done as at present. However, after chart preparation, online request can be filed through TDR. Zonal Railways Claims Offices will process TDRs by verification from Train Reservation Charts and decide admissibility of refund amount. IRCTC will arrange the refund to customer's account on receipt from Railways as per extant refund rules.