Railways plans to charge Licence Fee from IRCTC, travel agents on brand name

Railways plans to charge Licence Fee from IRCTC, travel agents on brand name

The Railways wants to charge licence fee on the use of its name, locomotive logo and slogan, ‘Lifeline of the Nation’ from IRCTC and travel agents. The idea, a brainchild of junior Rail Minister Manoj Sinha, suggests that the charge be 1 per cent of the annual turnover clocked by IRCTC and travel agents.

New Delhi: The Railways wants to charge licence fee on the use of its name, locomotive logo and slogan, ‘Lifeline of the Nation’ from IRCTC and travel agents.

The proposal before the Railway Board is to charge individual travel agents and organisations such as the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corp (IRCTC) for using “associated goodwill” of the Indian Railways to generate revenue for themselves.

The idea, a brainchild of junior Rail Minister Manoj Sinha, suggests that the charge be 1 per cent of the annual turnover clocked by IRCTC and travel agents.

“This (fee) would also prevent misuse of the Indian Railways name and logo by travel agents. A logo at our appointed agent would provide assurance to travellers that they are not being overcharged or swindled,” said a Rail Ministry official told Express.

Co-branded services such as Palace on Wheels, Golden Chariot, Tiger Express and Maharajas’ Express, which are run by other tourist organisations using the infrastructure and personnel of the Indian Railways, would also have to cough up 0.1 per cent of their turnover to the Railways each year.

Source:RailNews