Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has announced significant reforms to the Indian Railways ticketing and refund rules to curb black marketing by agents. Speaking on the changes, Mr Vaishnaw stated that the reservation charting window has been extended from the previous four hours to a range of 9 to 18 hours. This reform is intended to provide greater certainty to passengers, especially those travelling from satellite towns like Sonipat to catch trains in Delhi. Under the new rules, no refund will be granted for tickets cancelled less than 8 hours before the scheduled departure. For cancellations made between 24 hours and 8 hours before departure, a 50% refund will be provided. Additionally, a 25% cancellation charge will be introduced for tickets cancelled between 72 hours and 24 hours before the journey. The Minister noted that these measures were developed after field studies and decoy operations by the RPF and commercial department revealed that the tendency to buy 'black tickets' is highest 24 hours before departure.