Are you aware of the new rules to book lower berth for senior citizens in Indian Railways? Here, you will see various rules and necessary guidelines about the SS quota and tips for tatkal ticket booking where you can book a lower berth seat if you are eligible.
If you have traveled in a sleeper coach of Indian railways with a confirmed lower berth, you might have had an experience where you had to switch your seat with a senior citizen with an upper berth. At least you might have seen such a scenario. Though we are morally obliged to give our seats willingly, it is often not a pleasant way to enjoy your journey. So to avoid such situations, the Indian Railways has come up with the reservation quota for senior citizens, where the lower berth is allotted only to senior citizens or those who meet their criteria.
What is the Lower Berth Quota?
Indian Railways has introduced the SS Quota, popularly called the Lower Berth Quota, which reserves the lower berth quota for senior citizens. Since elderly persons will have difficulty climbing the complicated steps to the upper berths, this has come as a solace for the young and aged equally. So now, during the train ticket booking, you will get the lower berth only if you fulfill specific rules.
Rules for Eligibility for SS Quota
Here, age is of critical importance to be called a senior citizen. But, at the same time, it is not the same criteria to be eligible for the ticket concessions for senior citizens. Moreover, the age limit for this criteria differs for men and women. So here are the rules under the Lower Berth Quota.
- Male travelers who are or above 60 and female travelers aged 58 or above are eligible for this quota.
- A few passengers meet the criteria mentioned above when traveling on the same PNR number.
- Female passengers of age 45 or above are traveling alone.
These rules apply to both online booking and booking at the counters. Specific additional criteria also make you eligible for this reservation quota for train ticket booking.
Pregnant women may also avail of this quota, but this will be applicable only at the booking counters and not for online booking. In such cases, you must submit a medical certificate to claim it.
Disadvantages of Lower Berth for Senior Citizen Quota
- The disadvantage of this quota is that you can reserve only two passengers in a single ticket and not more than that.
- Once the seats are filled, if you fail to meet the criteria or cannot submit the necessary documentation, you may be allotted a general seat and not necessarily the lower berth.
- Not all lower berth seats are reserved for this quota. The number of such reserved seats may be different for each class.
How to Use SS Quota While Booking Tickets?
When you login into the redRail app for booking the tickets online, fill in the passenger details such as name, age, gender, etc. Then choose the berth under the Quota options. Depending on the age and gender, the respective quota, such as Lower Berth, Senior Citizen quota, Women quota, etc., may be chosen. You can then proceed to the payment to complete the booking process.
Tips for Tatkal Ticket Booking for Lower Berth Quota
Train ticket booking through tatkal is a tedious process, and getting a reservation under this lower berth quota can be more challenging. But there are a few ways you can make this process easier.
- Tip #1
Step number one is to save a passenger list and choose the passenger from this list. IRCTC allows online booking by creating an account. So when you have created the account, you can feed in details of passengers and save it to use later.
While booking the tatkal tickets, you can select the passenger name from the saved list, and all the passenger details will be auto-filled.
- Tip #2
The next step is to save your mode of payment for a quicker payment process. For example, saving your preferred payment method, such as the credit or debit card number, net banking, or UPI, can save you time and complete the payment process swiftly.
Both these steps will help save you time and have better chances of getting a confirmed seat.
How to Create and Save a Passenger List in the IRCTC Profile?
- Step 1: Log in to your account
- Step 2: Click on the menu button and choose the option ‘Ticketing.’
- Step 3: Now select the ‘Passenger List.’
- Step 4: Select Options to include another person on the list.
- Step 5: Fill in the details such as name, age, and other details.
- Step 6: Click on the Add button to save the details.
There is no limit on how many passengers you can add to this list, but it is better to keep the number limited to help save data and space.