Minister of State for Railways Rajen Gohain on Wednesday informed Parliament that the Indian Railways has launched an online optional travel insurance scheme for one year."An optional travel insurance scheme on a pilot basis for one year has been launched for the railway passengers who book e-ticket through official website of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC)," Gohain informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply to a question.Elaborating on the scheme, the minister said: "Under the scheme reserved passengers who expire or are disabled permanently or partially due to train accident and untoward incidents during train journey will be entitled to sum assured."Emphasising on the requirement of bringing the insurance shceme, Gohain said that the objective behind the scheme is to maximise compensation to the passengers for the loss caused by train accidents.
According to the minister, the scheme came in to effect from September 1, 2016, for one year. Under the scheme a heir of the passenger is entitled to get Rs 10 lakh in case of death, while the passenger would get Rs 10 lakh if he is permanently disabled. The passenger would get a compensation of Rs 7.5 lakh in case of partial disability, while Rs 2 lakh will be paid for the hospitalisation expense. The insurance company would also pay Rs 10,000 for the transportation of the mortal remains. To provide the insurance services to the passengers, which is valid for the "Sleeper, First AC, Second Ac and third AC", IRCTC has signed agreement with three insurance companies -- Shriram General Insurance Company, ICICI Lombard General Insurance and Royal Sundaram General Insurance.