- Train passengers opting out of IRCTC catering charges range from 15% to 30% per management
- Shift from opt-in to opt-out reflects increased passenger choice, not food dissatisfaction, says management.
- IRCTC plans to expand e-Pantry and explore branded catering to improve food quality
A growing share of train passengers booking tickets through IRCTC are choosing to skip catering charges altogether, according to the railway PSU's management, though the exact scale of the shift remains unsettled even by the company's own account.
Responding to a question on catering attachment rates during IRCTC's Q1 FY27 earnings call, chairman and managing director Rahul Himalian said opt-outs were running at "around 15% to 30%" when he first addressed the trend, before later citing a narrower range of "25% to 30%" when pressed on the specific prepaid mix.
Himalian was upfront about the uncertainty around both figures. "Opt-out is around 25% to 30%, but this figure will be confirmed. This is an offhand figure I am giving for opt-out," he told analysts, adding that the number had not been independently verified before the call.
What management was consistent on was the direction of travel. Himalian said the pattern marked a reversal from IRCTC's earlier catering model, where passengers were more likely to opt in by default. "Earlier, it was more of opt-in. So, people have started opting out and saving the catering charges," he said, framing the shift as a sign of expanded customer choice rather than dissatisfaction with food quality.
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On complaints, Himalian said volumes remained low relative to the scale of IRCTC's catering operation, which serves around 58 crore meals annually. The company logs between 300 and 500 complaints a day against roughly 18 lakh meals supplied daily, a ratio of about 0.0008%. He said many complaints were not about food quality at all, but covered requests such as additional water or baby food, or feedback on staff behaviour.
On measures to lift the passenger experience, Himalian pointed to eCatering, which he said had grown from roughly 1.25 lakh meals to more than 1.6 lakh meals a day, and the newer e-Pantry model now live on more than 50 trains, with plans to extend it to around 100. Under e-Pantry, passengers can order food from vendors on the same train via a mobile app or QR code, a system designed to prevent overcharging.
He also acknowledged that food quality remained a live policy question, saying IRCTC was working with the railway ministry to explore bringing in branded catering players to lift standards through competition, though he described the plan as still at an early stage.
An analyst on the call asked whether such metrics could be included in future investor presentations. Himalian said the suggestion would be taken on board.
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