RBL Bank IRCTC Credit Card
The RBL IRCTC Credit Card is a rail-first co-brand on the RuPay network — so it links to UPI — built around one recurring saving: 5 reward points per ₹200 on train tickets booked through IRCTC (2.5%, with each point worth ₹1 on IRCTC), plus a 1% reversal of the IRCTC transaction/payment-gateway charge (capped at ₹200 a month across all bookings, not per booking). It adds 8 railway-lounge visits a year (2 a quarter) and a ₹5,000 Train Cancellation Shield. The catch is the value is almost entirely inside the IRCTC ecosystem: off-IRCTC spends earn a thin 1 RP per ₹200, the ₹500 fee has no spend waiver, and there is no fuel or air-lounge benefit. For a frequent train traveller it pays for itself; for everyone else it is an ordinary base-rate card.
Key features
What this card is built to do — the highlights that actually matter.
Welcome Benefit
~₹500 in vouchers, points or cashback on card activation
2.5% on Travel
5 RP per ₹200 on IRCTC train tickets (2.5%; 1 RP = ₹1 on IRCTC). Plus 1% reversal of the IRCTC transaction/gateway charge on tickets up to ₹5,000, capped at ₹200 per month (not per booking)
0.5% on Other
1 RP per ₹200 on other spends (~0.5%, value realised on IRCTC redemption). FASTag/NCMC reload earns 3 RP per ₹200
️ Airport Lounge Access
2 complimentary visits per quarter at domestic and international airport lounges
Milestone Bonus
~₹2,000 in bonus rewards on hitting annual spend milestones
UPI Linked
Link to PhonePe, GPay or Paytm and earn credit card rewards on UPI payments
️ Insurance Cover
Train Cancellation Shield — ex-gratia protection of up to ₹5,000 if a confirmed domestic train booking is cancelled, limited to one claim every six months (local, goods, unreserved and non-AC trains are excluded)
Full reward structure
| Category | Type | Rate | Monthly cap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Travel | reward points | 2.5% | — |
| Other | reward points | 0.5% | — |
Fees & charges
| Charge | Amount |
|---|---|
| Annual fee (incl. 18% GST) | ₹590 |
| Joining fee (incl. 18% GST) | ₹590 |
| Finance charge (APR) | 3.99% p.m. |
| Forex markup | 3.5% |
Perks & benefits
Estimated annual value beyond rewards — ~₹4,500/yr in total.
️ lounge access ~ ₹2,000 /yr
8 complimentary railway-station lounge visits a year (2 per quarter) at participating IRCTC lounges
milestone bonus ~ ₹2,000 /yr
RBL credits 500 reward points on ₹75,000 of spend in a calendar quarter, and it can repeat each quarter — so this row is the annual equivalent, 2,000 points at the ₹3 lakh of yearly spend that clears the bar all four times
️ insurance ~ ₹500 /yr
Train Cancellation Shield — ex-gratia protection of up to ₹5,000 if a confirmed domestic train booking is cancelled, limited to one claim every six months (local, goods, unreserved and non-AC trains are excluded)
Should you get it?
Best for: Frequent train travellers who book through IRCTC, RuPay-on-UPI users who want rail rewards
Entry tier — great for first-time and lower-spend users.
Strongest value if you spend heavily on Travel ( 2.5% back).
Frequent travellers benefit from the included airport lounge access.
✓ Pros
- 5 RP per ₹200 on IRCTC train tickets (2.5%), each point worth ₹1 on IRCTC
- 1% reversal of the IRCTC booking/gateway charge on tickets up to ₹5,000, capped at ₹200 a month
- 8 railway-lounge visits a year (2 per quarter)
- 500 reward points for every calendar quarter with ₹75,000 of spend — up to 2,000 points a year
- Train Cancellation Shield worth up to ₹5,000 on a cancelled confirmed booking
- RuPay network links to UPI for everyday payments
- No reward-redemption fee on this card
✕ Cons
- The ₹500 fee has no spend-based waiver
- Off-IRCTC spends earn a thin 1 RP per ₹200 (~0.5%)
- No airport lounge or fuel surcharge waiver
- The booking-fee reversal is capped at ₹200 a month in total, so frequent bookers hit the ceiling
- Fuel, utilities, insurance, rent, education, wallet loads, government payments and EMI conversions earn no points at all
Eligibility & documents
Age
21 –65 years
Min. income
₹20,000 /mo
Employment
Salaried · Self-employed
Documents required
- PAN card
- Aadhaar / valid address proof
- Latest 3 months bank statement
- Income proof — salary slips (salaried) or ITR (self-employed)
- Recent passport-size photograph
How to redeem rewards
Ways to convert what you earn into real value.
🎁 Redeem reward points on the IRCTC platform (1 point = ₹1) toward train tickets
🎁 Online rewards catalogue (vouchers, merchandise) via the RBL rewards portal
What your RBL Reward Points are worth
Realistic value per point by redemption route — the difference is what most people leave on the table.
Statement credit BEST Standard redemption
Gift voucher catalogue BEST Brand & e-gift vouchers
The concern The ₹500 fee has no spend-based waiver and nearly all the value sits inside IRCTC — off-platform spends earn just 1 RP per ₹200 and there is no fuel or airport-lounge benefit.
The bottom line
The RBL Bank IRCTC Credit Card is a purposeful rail travel card where a 2.5% return on IRCTC tickets, monthly transaction fee reversals, and eight complimentary railway lounge visits easily justify the fixed ₹500 annual fee for frequent train passengers. However, with general spending yielding a minimal 0.5% return, non-rail purchases are better routed through a general-purpose card.
Sources & verification
Fees, reward rates, and benefits for the RBL Bank IRCTC Credit Card are taken from RBL Bank 's official Most Important Terms & Conditions (MITC) and fee schedule — see the card's official page . Last verified 6 Aug 2026 . Reviewed by Devchandra Sah . Always confirm current details on the issuer's site before applying. How we research →
Independence. CardAdvisor is an independent editorial publication. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, or authorised to act for RBL Bank . All issuer names, product names, and payment-network marks are the property of their respective owners and appear here for identification and comparison only. Card faces shown on this site are our own original illustrations — we do not display or host issuer card artwork or logos.
Value timeline
Every real-world change to this card's rewards, fees and benefits we've tracked — newest first, each linked to its source.
Tracking since 2024 · 3 changes · last change Jan 2026
▲ Revaluation ▼ Devaluation ◆ Neutral / reversed
2026 1 change — 1 cut
▼ Fee Observed Jan 2026 · Effective 7 Jan 2026
New 1% fee on large FASTag top-ups and toll payments
No FASTag or toll transaction fee → 1% fee on any FASTag-loading or toll-payment transaction above ₹10,000
From 7 January 2026 RBL Bank charges a 1% fee on any single FASTag-loading or toll-payment transaction above ₹10,000, measured per transaction per card, across merchant category codes 4784, 4111 and 4131. Because the threshold is per transaction rather than a monthly aggregate, it bites on one-off large FASTag top-ups rather than on regular commuting; splitting a top-up below ₹10,000 avoids it. The fee sits alongside RBL's existing 1% charges on rent, on utility spends above ₹50,000 a month, on fuel transactions above ₹10,000, and on education payments routed through third-party apps. It is a fee on the transaction, not a change to reward earning — these categories already earn no reward points on most RBL cards.
Verification: RBL Bank ↗ · Confidence: High
2024 2 changes — 1 cut, 1 neutral
▼ Fee Effective 15 Oct 2024
New 1% fees on large fuel, utility & third-party education spends
No category transaction fees → 1% on large fuel/utility/education spends
From 15 Oct 2024 RBL added portfolio-wide category fees under its Schedule of Charges: 1% on any single fuel transaction over ₹10,000 (capped ₹3,000), 1% on monthly utility spends over ₹50,000, and 1% on third-party-app education payments (Cred/PhonePe/Paytm/MobiKwik and similar). These are card-agnostic and apply to the IRCTC card even though its rewards sit inside the IRCTC ecosystem; they touch only off-IRCTC spending, so the card's core rail value is unchanged.
Verification: RBL Bank ↗ · Confidence: High
◆ Launch Effective 28 Aug 2024
IRCTC RBL Bank Credit Card launched as a RuPay rail co-brand
RBL Bank launched the IRCTC RBL Bank Credit Card as part of a trio of new co-brands (with the IndianOil pair), announced late August 2024 on the RuPay network so it links to UPI. Core proposition: 5 reward points per ₹200 on IRCTC train-ticket bookings (2.5%, 1 RP = ₹1 on IRCTC), a 1% reversal of the IRCTC transaction/gateway charge up to ₹200 per booking, 1 RP per ₹200 on other spends, 3 RP per ₹200 on FASTag/NCMC reload, a 500-point welcome benefit on first ₹500 spend within 30 days, and 8 railway-station lounge visits a year (2 per quarter). Joining/annual fee ₹500 + GST, no spend waiver. Announcement date taken from the launch report; no pre-2024 IRCTC RBL card was found in market.
Verification: RBL Bank ↗ · Confidence: High
Each change links to the issuer's own document — bank T&C, MITC, notice, press release or product page — where one is public. Where the bank published nothing, it's marked CardAdvisor Research and verified against the card's current terms. Independent of the live terms shown above. This timeline is one card's slice of our market-wide change record across every tracked card.
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Source: RBL Bank IRCTC Credit Card value timeline — CardAdvisor
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Quick summary
Type Entry credit card
Reward rate 0.5%–2.5%
Best for Frequent train travellers who book through IRCTC
Joining fee ₹500
Annual fee ₹500
Reviewed by
Devchandra Sah · Cards tested, miles earned, trips booked — for over a decade
Last verified 6 Aug 2026
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280 cards analysed — August 2026
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