Handing over of Retiring Rooms and dormitories to IRCTC
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
Ministry of Railways
Railway Board
No. 2005/TGIV/35/Policy/RR
New Delhi, Dt: 23.09.2016
Chief Commercial Managers,
All Zonal Railways.
(Commercial Circular No. 50/2016)
Sub: Handing over of Retiring Rooms and dormitories to IRCTC.
Ref: IRCTC’s letter no. 2014/IRCTC/Catg./Retiring Room dated 03.11.2014
With a view to provide improved passenger amenities at railway station by utilising the available resources to its full potential, Ministry of Railways have decided to hand over the Retiring Rooms to IRCTC except those at Habibganj, AnandVihar Terminal, Bijwasan, Gandhinagar and Surat railway stations as these stations are presently entrusted for redevelopment to Indian Railway Station Development Corporation (IRSDC). Accordingly, detailed policy guidelines to be followed for handing over of Retiring Rooms and their management by IRCTC on the subject matter are as under:
1. Handing over of Retiring Room/Dormitory at railway stations:
1.1 For the purpose of operation, maintenance and marketing, Retiring Rooms & Dormitories at various stations of Indian Railway shall be handed over to IRCTC in a phased manner without transfer of the ownership of the land and building which shall remain with the Railways. IRCTC will submit a road map for taking over retiring rooms & dormitories in a phased manner. The phase wise plan prepared and submitted by IRCTC will be approved by Ministry of Railways in consultation with Zonal Railways. The NIT shall be published by IRCTC after getting due approval from Railway Board. For this purpose, IRCTC shall sign an agreement with the respective zonal railway detailing the extent and manner of such transfer. The draft agreement for this purpose shall be finalised by Ministry of Railways in consultation with IRCTC.
1.2 Zonal Railway shall provide the plan of the present structure of Retiring Room to IRCTC to facilitate the latter to determine the scope of work/modification involved, float tender and finalise agreement with service provider. This may include the following drawings;
a) Key Plan – location in station building
b) Architectural Plan
c) Elevation Plan
d) Structural detail Plan
e) Services layout Plan (Plumbing, Sewage etc.)
f) Electrical layout including back up power arrangement
g) Any other supplementary information/details
1.3 Zonal Railway shall hand over the required clearances to IRCTC which are necessary to conduct the business.
IRCTC/Service provider in turn shall ensure compliances of all necessary rules, regulations, permits required to conduct the business.
1.4 Railway shall remove the electrical appliances, furniture, furnishings, fixtures including TV, crockery etc from the retiring room prior to handing over the same to IRCTC. The released material may be gainfully utilised by the Railway in ORH/Subordinate Rest House/Holiday Home/Running room etc.
2. Upgradation of Retiring Rooms/Dormitories:
2.1 Upgradation of Retiring Rooms shall be undertaken by IRCTC or through a service provider. IRCTC shall undertake upgradation of the retiring room in a manner without affecting the basic structure/heritage façade and load bearing members of the building. IRCTC shall be permitted to undertake only interior designing and alterations while executing interior fitouts. Railway shall also have the right to supervise the execution of upgradation work, if considered necessary.
2.2 The available arrangements for water supply, electricity supply, drainage, sewage etc. shall be transferred to IRCTC on ‘as is where is’ basis. IRCTC can undertake modification(s) of the arrangements to the extent permitted by the railway.
2.3 Railway should make available regular power supply. Railway shall also make available the power back up facility for the Retiring Rooms to IRCTC at the applicable rates as per requirement.
2.4 For upgradation and maintenance of Retiring rooms, IRCTC may engage a service provider on PPP basis such as Renovate-Operate-Transfer (ROT model).
3. Features of Up-graded Retiring Room:
3.1 IRCTC through upgradation shall provide following facilities/amenities in the Retiring Rooms of different scales determined by the type of station and quantum of traffic dealt at the stations:-
A. Essential amenities:
• Well furnished, well-lit and AC Rooms and Dormitories.
• Provision of quality mattresses and linen.
• Appropriate Almirah/Locker with locking facility
• Service through trained and professional attendants well versed with hospitality industry norms.
• LED Television in each room.
• Well laid out and aesthetically designed bathrooms with all modern facilities such as WC, geysers, shower etc
• Telephone/Inter-com in Rooms/Dormitories.
• Room Heaters (wherever required in winters)
• Fire fighting arrangements.
• Wheel chair for Senior Citizens/differently abled
• Potable Drinking Water.
B. Value Added Services:
• Food and Beverage services in Room.
• Tour and travel services with local sightseeing etc.
• Magazines/books
• Journey conveniences & travel requirements such as disposable bed rolls, gifts and toys etc.
• Provision of Laundry services.
• Reception facility with Local/STD/ISD telephone along with internet facility.
• Wi-fi connectivity in the premises.
• Bell boy/Porter service for luggage handling
• Any other value added service as deemed fit by IRCTC from time to time.
4. Revenue Sharing between IR and IRCTC
4.1 The gross revenue excluding taxes from the operation of Retiring Room, when managed by IRCTC departmentally, shall be shared in the ratio of 75:25 between IRCTC and IR.
4.2 Where IRCTC outsource the management of the retiring room through contract, the revenue received by IRCTC from the service provider by way of licence fee etc shall be shared by IRCTC with Railway in the ratio of 60:40 i.e. 60% to IRCTC and 40% to the Railways.
4.3 if ITCTC wants to provide/construct additional retiring rooms in the open space available in the station premises, they may be permitted by the Railway administration on request on case to case basis. In such situation, the revenue sharing between IRCTC and Railway would be 85%: 15% for the additional rooms.
4.4 In addition, a nominal license fee of Rs.10/- per sqm of the floor area per year and user charges for electricity and water as applicable on consumption basis shall also be paid IRCTC to Railways irrespective of whether it is run departmentally by IRCTC or through outsourcing.
4.5 A software platform for booking of retiring rooms online shall be developed by IRCTC with the help of CRIS, which should help passengers to book retiring rooms online and also to the vendor/service provider at the station.
5. Operation and Maintenance of Retiring Room Complexes.
5.1 IRCTC shall be permitted to design suitable business and financial model for operation and maintenance without assigning any right/lien to third party over the space allotted. However, IRCTC may integrate the services of Retiring Room complexes with any other services such as catering, tourism etc for the benefit of Railway passengers.
5.2 IRCTC shall submit to the Railway Board a draft model agreement to be executed between IRCTC and Zonal Railways for Retiring Rooms. The agreement shall have the provision for appropriate penal action against IRCTC in case(s) of violation of extant policy guidelines or deficiency in services. Based on the draft, a model agreement shall be issued by the Railway Board, to be executed between IRCTC and the Zonal Railway/Division and the same shall be made available to Zonal Railway.
5.3 In case, IRCTC outsources the business of management of retiring rooms at stations, Security Deposit of suitable value in the form of either cash or acceptable form of financial instruments such as Bank Guarantee shall be collected from the service provider by IRCTC before signing of the agreement to deter the agency/service provider from leaving the contract midway, to ensure uninterrupted performance by the service provider throughout the period of contract and to cover up anticipated/potential loss of earnings and inconvenience to the passengers. This shall be released by IRCTC to the service provider only after successful completion of the contract.
6. Tenure of Retiring Room handed over to IRCTC:
The operation, maintenance and marketing of Retiring Room excluding above five stations viz. Habibganj, AnandVihar Terminal, Bijwasan, Gandhinagar and Surat railway stations, shall be handed over to IRCTC for an initial period of 9 years extendable upto 12 years depending upon the performance of IRCTC.
7. Branding & Marketing:
For the purpose of providing information to the passengers IRCTC shall be permitted to display information on board of reasonable size (as decided by the railway) regarding availability of Retiring Rooms at three locations per entry of the station free of any charges. The Retiring Rooms shall be operated under the brand name of IRCTC/service provider. No advertising for any other product or service shall be permitted on signages. IRCTC may book the retiring rooms through its own and/or websites owned by any other agency/individual. However, the routing of transaction should be done through the CRIS software just as in case of tickets.
8. Tariff:
8.1 IRCTC shall ensure that the extant policy regarding duration of stay in retiring rooms and eligibility for allotment of retiring rooms as being followed by Railways shall be adhered as such.
8.2 IRCTC shall have flexibility to fix the retiring room tariff as per the market conditions. Changes in the tariff should be effected in transparent and fair manner with adequate publicity/information to the potential users/customers. IRCTC shall also have to devise suitable marketing strategies to sell the services in a profitable manner.
8.3 The quality of services in all rooms shall be commensurate with the tariff charged and services offered.
9. Inspection of Retiring Room and Complaint Redressal:
Concerned Officers of Railway Board, Zonal Railways and Divisions shall be authorized to inspect the Retiring Room. During the inspection, if any violation of the provisions of this policy or deficiency in service is noticed, suitable penal action shall be taken as per the provision of the agreement signed between IRCTC and the railway. IRCTC shall also handle Complaint Redressal Mechanism for retiring room complexes.
This issues with the concurrence of Finance Directorate of Railway Board.
(Amit Kumar Jain)
Director Traffic Commercial/G
Railway Board