Divisional Railway Manager
East Central Railway,
DDU, DHN, DNR, SEE & SPJ.
Sub: – Guidelines on Group Booking/Bulk Reservation over E. C. Railway.
Ref: – (i) Railway Board’s letter no. 98/TG.I/20/P dtd. 17.02.1999,
(ii) Railway Board’s Commercial Circular no. 34 of 1999,
(iii) Railway Board’s Commercial Circular no. 25 of 2004,
(iv) Railway Board’s Commercial Circular no. 43 of 2014.
Railway Board vide letters/Comml. Circulars under reference have time to time issued
instructions regarding Group Booking/Bulk Reservation authorizing Zonal Railways to
delegate the powers for group reservation to various levels, prescribing the extent to which
each level can permit group booking.
To streamline the procedure, it has been decided to delegate powers to authorities at
various levels over East Central Railway. As the process of group booking consumes a lot of
time at the counter, such facility needs to be provided at bigger centers and Divisional
Headquarters where relatively larger number of counters are functional. Accordingly, the
powers of Group Booking/Bulk Reservation are now delegated to the following authorities –
Sl. no. Competent Authority Powers delegated for upto
following number of berths
(subject to clause 11 of Annexure)
SL 3A 2A
01 CRS at PRS location 32 16 12
02 ACM at division or AO/Station 48 24 16
03 DCM at division or
Station Director (SS/JAG)
100 48 32
04 Sr. DCM Full Powers
The detailed procedure and guidelines with respect to Group Booking/Bulk
Reservation are enclosed at Annexure

The guidelines regarding Group Booking/Bulk Reservation applicable over East Central
Railway shall be as under, in supersession of previous guidelines/instructions issued by
this office –
1. The powers of Group Booking/Bulk Reservation are delegated to various authorities
over East Central Railway, prescribing the extent to which each level can permit
group booking.
2. Group booking facility shall be provided to bonafide passengers travelling in groups
such as for marriage, sports tournaments, educational tours of students of recognized
school/college, pilgrims for religious tours, cultural troupes etc.
3. For availing group booking facility, a request letter has to be submitted to the
concerned authority. If the journey is being authorized by a school/department
/institution/organization, a certificate issued by the head or authorized signatory of the
school/department/institution/organization, has to be submitted to the concerned
authority. Similarly, in case of marriage party, the marriage card or the notarized
affidavit has to be submitted along with the request letter. In case of religious/cultural
groups, the original certificate of registration of the organization issued by the
competent authority should be produced, along with a copy thereof.
4. No permission shall be granted for group booking unless purpose of the journey is
specified.
5. The names, age, gender etc. of all the passengers in the group should invariably be
furnished (in triplicate) at the time of seeking permission. Person who is making the
reservation has to produce his/her own identity card and submit a photocopy thereof.
6. The application for group booking should be submitted directly to the competent
authority and not through any travel agent. This provision will not be applicable for
reservations sought in favour of Foreign Tourists/NRIs (CC-25 of 2004).
7. On the opening day of reservation for a particular train (ARP opening day), group
booking in that train will be permitted from 9.00 am, i.e. one hour after the opening of
reservation (CC-43 of 2014).
The group booking for return journey shall also be permitted at the same reservation
office, irrespective of PRS on which the train is defined (CC-34 of 1999). However,
return journey shall be treated as a separate journey and all the formalities shall be
complied with afresh.
9. The group booking may be permitted in all Mail/Exp. trains including
Rajdhani/Shatabdi/Duranto/Humsafar/GaribRath and various Special trains
introduced from time to time.
10.If exclusive counters are earmarked, bulk booking should be done only in these
counters. Any cancellation/modification on Bulk booking shall also be done only at
these counters.
11.Group booking shall be subject to availability of maximum 25 percent of the total
accommodation in that class by that train on that date. In other words, at any point of
time, a maximum of 25% of available vacant berths at that point of time in that
date & class of that train may be booked for group booking.
12.No Group booking will be allowed in slip coaches.
13.Group reservation will be subject to distance restrictions applicable to that train.
14.The passenger shall submit only one reservation requisition form for one journey duly
filling all columns except name, age and gender of passengers. Remarks “as per list
attached” should be written in the space for name column in the reservation form. The
list of names of passengers (adults and child separately) age and gender should be
attached with the reservation form. If senior citizen concession is required, the same
has to be indicated against the respective name(s). At the bottom, a declaration
regarding total number of passengers- (____ adults and ____children) should be
written by head of the party/organization and signed and seal affixed in case of
institutions/organizations.
15.While permitting bulk booking, the CRS shall affix his seal and signature on the
reservation application form and the attached passenger name list (in all pages).
16.CRS shall ensure that there is no cornering of berths by unscrupulous elements or
touts on the pretext of group booking.
17.A register may be maintained as record in which particulars of the parties to whom
permission is granted should be recorded for any enquiries becoming necessary at a
later stage.
Specimen format for register for group booking to be maintained by CRS is given
below: Sr. no. Date Train No. From To No. of Aduld/Child Name of the party/organization Address & Contact No. Purpose Remarks Signature of applicant Signature of Rly official
19.In case of change of name of any group member (like substitution), an application has
to be submitted, at least 48 hours prior to the scheduled departure of the train from the
station. This application should be written by the head of the department/group/party.
However, such request for name change shall be granted only once and in no case,
such request for change in excess of 10% of the total strength of the group shall be
granted. Any such name change done should also be endorsed in the corresponding
group booking register.
*

The guidelines regarding Group Booking/Bulk Reservation applicable over East Central
Railway shall be as under, in supersession of previous guidelines/instructions issued by
this office –
1. The powers of Group Booking/Bulk Reservation are delegated to various authorities
over East Central Railway, prescribing the extent to which each level can permit
group booking.
2. Group booking facility shall be provided to bonafide passengers travelling in groups
such as for marriage, sports tournaments, educational tours of students of recognized
school/college, pilgrims for religious tours, cultural troupes etc.
3. For availing group booking facility, a request letter has to be submitted to the
concerned authority. If the journey is being authorized by a school/department
/institution/organization, a certificate issued by the head or authorized signatory of the
school/department/institution/organization, has to be submitted to the concerned
authority. Similarly, in case of marriage party, the marriage card or the notarized
affidavit has to be submitted along with the request letter. In case of religious/cultural
groups, the original certificate of registration of the organization issued by the
competent authority should be produced, along with a copy thereof.
4. No permission shall be granted for group booking unless purpose of the journey is
specified.
5. The names, age, gender etc. of all the passengers in the group should invariably be
furnished (in triplicate) at the time of seeking permission. Person who is making the
reservation has to produce his/her own identity card and submit a photocopy thereof.
6. The application for group booking should be submitted directly to the competent
authority and not through any travel agent. This provision will not be applicable for
reservations sought in favour of Foreign Tourists/NRIs (CC-25 of 2004).