Railway Board lists docs to avail travel passes for dependents of employees

NEW DELHI: The Railway Board has standardised the documents its employees need to avail privileged passes or privileged ticket orders (PTO) for their family members or dependents.

In a letter, circulated to all the zones on November 2, the board said, “Pass Issuing Authorities (PIA) are advised to demand only the documents as stipulated in Annexure and not insist on production of other document(s) which might have been in use in the past.”

It has also clarified that the existing cases where the eligibility of beneficiaries already stand settled need not be reviewed by calling for documents stipulated now. Besides the standardisation of documents, the board’s letter has also clarified as to who all can avail the benefits of free passes as the relative or dependent of a railway employee.

According to the letter, besides close family members, a railway employee can include his or her dependents such as an adult son, widowed or legally divorced daughter, adopted child, widowed or divorced mother among others in the list of beneficiaries.

“A railway employee gets free travel passes for his/her entire family which include his wife and children, irrespective of the number of children. However, when he or she wants to include a dependent in the list of beneficiaries, the Railway restricts the benefits to only five individuals from the family,” an railway official said.

The Railway Board digitised the process of issuance of privileged passes, however, there was no clear instruction regarding the production of documents to avail the benefits. Several employees wrote to the board and demanded clarity on this.