Railway Accounts
Railway Accounts
Key Information
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| 1. Financial year of Indian Railways | 1 April – 31 March |
| 2. Budget presentation in Parliament | By the Union Railway Minister (now merged with Union Budget) |
| 3. Accounts compilation agency | Comptroller & Auditor General of India (CAG) |
| 4. Railway’s accounting system | Accrual-based Double-entry system |
| 5. Fund for Pension disbursement | Railway Pension Fund (managed by MoFinance) |
| 6. Major revenue head | Transportation Earnings (Goods + Passenger) |
| 7. Accounting code for freight earnings | 3001-3999 series |
| 8. Accounting code for passenger earnings | 1001-1999 series |
| 9. Depreciation fund for track & bridges | Depreciation Reserve Fund (DRF) |
| 10. Capital fund for safety works | Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh (RRSK) – ₹20,000 cr annual corpus |
| 11. Internal resource generation target | 14-16 % of annual Capital Outlay |
| 12. Operating Ratio (OR) target (2025-26 BE) | ≤ 90 % |
| 13. Highest revenue earning zone | Central Railway |
| 14. Earnings unit in accounts | One Unit = ₹ 1,000 |
| 15. Wagon Registration fee credited to | Other Miscellaneous Receipts (OMR) |
| 16. Dividend payable to | Consolidated Fund of India (abolished 2016-17) |
| 17. Railway’s own finance wing | Indian Railway Finance Service (IRFS) |
| 18. Costing unit for passenger fare | Passenger Kilometre (PKM) |
| 19. Costing unit for freight | Net Tonne Kilometre (NTKM) |
| 20. Digital payment aggregator for IRCTC | Paytm, Razorpay & SBI e-Pay |
Important Points
- Operating Ratio below 90 % is considered healthy for Railways.
- Railway Budget was merged with Union Budget in 2017-18; separate Budget speech discontinued.
- Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh (RRSK) is non-lapsable and exclusively for critical safety works.
- Capital expenditure is met through Gross Budgetary Support (GBS), Internal Resources and Extra-Budgetary Resources (IRFC bonds).
- Indian Railways does not allocate budget for Dividend anymore; practice stopped after 2016-17.
- All earnings are credited to the Consolidated Fund of India and refunds are charged to the same fund.
- Zero-based budgeting is adopted for Plan Heads 4000-4999 (works expenditure).
- Accounting classification has 4 tiers – Major Head, Minor Head, Detailed Head and Object Head.
- Freight Earnings are further sub-divided into Coal, Cement, Food-grains, Container etc.
- Passenger Earnings are classified into Reserved, Unreserved, Suburban and Surcharge.
- Outstanding dues of Railways are reflected under “Railway Receivables” in Finance Accounts.
- E-rolls and PFMS (Public Financial Management System) are mandatory for all railway payments above ₹ 1 lakh.
Practice MCQs
1. Which fund is created exclusively for Railway safety works?
A. Depreciation Reserve FundB. Railway Pension Fund
C. Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh
D. Development Fund
Ans. C
2. In which year was the separate Railway Budget merged with the Union Budget?
A. 2014-15B. 2016-17
C. 2017-18
D. 2018-19
Ans. C
3. What is the accounting system followed by Indian Railways?
A. Cash-based single entryB. Accrual-based double entry
C. Hybrid cash-cum-accrual
D. Government single entry
Ans. B
4. The Operating Ratio of Indian Railways is expressed as—
A. Revenue over Expenditure × 100B. Expenditure over Revenue × 100
C. Net Revenue over Capital Outlay
D. Gross Traffic Receipts over Total Working Expenses
Ans. B
5. Which of the following is the highest revenue-earning zone of Indian Railways?
A. Northern RailwayB. Western Railway
C. Central Railway
D. South Eastern Railway
Ans. C
6. Freight earnings are accounted under which accounting code series?
A. 1001-1999B. 2001-2999
C. 3001-3999
D. 4001-4999
Ans. C
7. Who compiles the Finance & Appropriation Accounts of the Railways?
A. Railway BoardB. Ministry of Finance
C. CAG of India
D. NITI Aayog
Ans. C
8. Dividend payment by Railways to GOI was discontinued from the FY—
A. 2014-15B. 2015-16
C. 2016-17
D. 2018-19
Ans. C
9. The unit for freight costing is—
A. PKMB. GTKM
C. NTKM
D. RKM
Ans. C
10. Outstanding dues recoverable from customers are shown in accounts as—
A. Railway PayablesB. Railway Receivables
C. Sundry Creditors
D. Contingent Liability
Ans. B
BETA
