New Delhi, Dec 11, 2016: The Indian Railways on Saturday started giving free accidental insurance cover to the passengers who booked their tickets through online mode, IRCTC officials said.

"The railways has started giving free accident insurance to such passengers who book their tickets through online mode," Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) spokesperson Sandip Dutta said.

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"The services were implemented around 2:30 p.m. today (Saturday)," he said.

The IRCTC official also said that the passengers with confirmed or RAC (Reserved Against Cancellation) tickets would be covered under this scheme.

The IRCTC's action came three days after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced a free accident insurance cover of Rs. 10 lakh for passengers who buy railway tickets online, in a bid to promote the cashless transaction post demonetization of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 currency notes.

The optional insurance scheme was launched on September 1 by the IRCTC on a pilot basis for one year, which allowed a travelling passenger to get an insurance cover of up to Rs. 10 lakh on booking a train ticket online by paying just 92 paise.

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Under the scheme a heir of the passenger is entitled to get Rs. 10 lakh in case of death, while the passenger would get Rs. 10 lakh if he is permanently disabled.

The passenger would get a compensation of Rs. 7.5 lakh in case of partial disability, while Rs. 2 lakh will be paid for the hospitalisation expense.

The insurance company would also pay Rs. 10,000 for the transportation of the mortal remains.

The facility was also announced in the Railway Budget 2016-17.

According to railway officials, about 14 lakh railway passengers buy railway tickets daily — out of which 58 per cent tickets are bought online.