Railway Parcel Booking Just Got Easier

Indian Railways has announced a new door to door parcel delivery service, similar to those offered by private courier companies. The service, named ‘Ghar Se Ghar Tak’, will allow customers to book parcels for collection from their homes and delivery directly to the recipient’s address. The facility is initially planned for eight major cities across the country: Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Pune. To make the process convenient, the Railways will introduce a dedicated ‘Rail Parcel App’, through which customers can book and manage their parcel shipments.

Under this system, Indian Railways will work in collaboration with private logistics companies. Their representatives will collect parcels from customers’ homes and transport them to the nearest railway station. The parcels will then be carried by train to the destination city, where logistics partners will deliver them to the specified addresses. The app will offer parcel booking, live tracking and online payment facilities. Each booking will receive a unique 10-digit PRR number, and payments can be made through UPI, credit cards, debit cards and net banking. Bookings can be made from 15 days before a train’s departure until one day before the journey. If a booking is cancelled before parcel collection, the railway transportation charge will be refunded after deducting a ₹10 clerkage fee. The service is expected to benefit small businesses, online sellers and individual customers.