Western Railway’s SARAL makes refund of failed payments easy

Mumbai: The Western Railway (WR) on Wednesday announced the launch of a QR code-based facility to speed up refunds for failed digital payments.

The facility, SARAL or Smart Assistant and Refund Access Link, was introduced at a press conference held at WR headquarters in Mumbai by Principal Chief Commercial Manager Tarun Jain.

According to officials, passengers can start using the facility immediately.


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Jain said with this facility, carrying the tagline "Yatra Bhi, Refund Bhi Saral," passengers will be able to file refund claims for failed digital payments from anywhere by simply using the QR code provided by WR.

The service has been launched on a pilot basis in the Mumbai division and may be extended to other divisions of WR based on passenger response, he maintained.

According to the officials, nearly 48 per cent of the total transactions are conducted digitally, and 8 to 10 payments fail daily due to technical issues, where the amount is debited, but tickets are not issued.

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While banks generally refund the debited amount within 3 to 7 working days, delays can occur. In such cases, passengers currently need to visit railway booking windows to file refund claims.

However, the SARAL facility will now allow passengers to file claims from anywhere, ensuring faster refunds compared to the existing process, they pointed out.

Abhay Singh Chauhan, Senior Divisional Commercial Manager, WR (Mumbai division), said at present, passengers must visit ticket counters to submit refund claims, but SARAL will save time and effort.

He explained that by scanning the SARAL QR code, passengers will have to fill out a form, provide details of the failed transaction, and upload proof of payment.

The details will be immediately forwarded to the Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) and the State Bank of India (SBI), which will verify the information and process the refund, Chauhan explained.

Through every stage of the refund process, passengers will receive updates via the email address provided by them, he informed.

"There will be a link to track the refund ," Chauhan added.