Indian Railways approves single All India licence for Container Train Operators with uniform fee

What happened: Indian Railways approved single All India licence for container trains

Indian Railways approved modifications to the Model Concession Agreement (MCA) that governs permissions for Container Train Operators (CTOs) to run container trains on the Indian Railways network. The approved changes allow CTOs to operate container trains on all routes across the Indian Railways network under a single All India licence. Indian Railways also introduced a uniform registration fee of ₹25 crore, replacing an earlier system that used separate permissions and fees for different route categories. Indian Railways stated that the MCA changes will be notified through a Gazette Notification.

Background and earlier position: route-wise categorisation and different fees

Before the MCA modifications, the licensing approach for CTOs involved route-wise categorisation of licences. Under the earlier system, registration fees differed across route categories, and route-specific permissions and fees determined how CTOs could obtain authorisation to operate.

What changed now: one licence for all routes and fee simplification

Indian Railways discontinued route-wise categorisation of CTO licences and approved a Single All India Licence for operating on all routes. Indian Railways also replaced the category-based fee structure with a uniform registration fee of ₹25 crore for every applicant. Indian Railways described the ₹25 crore registration fee as non-refundable.