Notification of Amendment to the Indian Railways (permission for operators to move container trains on Indian Railways) Rules, 2006

REGD. No. D. L.-33004/99 The Gazette of India CG-DL-E-13082026-275439 EXTRAORDINARY PART II—Section 3—Sub-section (i) PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY No. 663] NEW DELHI, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12, 2026/SHRAVAN 21, 1948 MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS (Railway Board) NOTIFICATION New Delhi, the 12th August, 2026 G.S.R. 727(E).— In exercise of the powers conferred by section 198 of the Railways Act, 1989 (24 of 1989), the Central Government hereby makes the following rules, further to amend the Indian Railways (permission for operators to move container trains on Indian Railways) Rules, 2006, namely: 1. Short title and commencement. (1) These rules may be called the Indian Railways (permission for operators to move container trains on Indian Railways) Amendment Rules, 2026. (2) They shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette. 2. In the Indian Railways (permission for operators to move container trains on Indian Railways) Rules, 2006(hereinafter referred to as the said rules), in rule 3, for the word and figures "Act, 1956", the word and figures "Act, 2013" shall be substituted. 3. In the said rules, for rule 7,the following rule shall be substituted, namely: "7. Regulation of Rail Container Operations. -The Container Train Operator shall be granted a single unified all India Container Train Operator (CTO) license to run container trains on all routes of Indian Railways network.". 4. In the said rules, in rule 8, for sub-rule (3), the following sub-rule shall be substituted, namely: "(3) Any company which has been declared insolvent or bankrupt, as the case may be, under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016 (31 of 2016) shall not be eligible to apply to operate container trains either individually or in association with other companies.". 5. In the said rules, in rule 10, for sub-rule (1), the following sub-rule shall be substituted, namely: "(1) At the time of submission of application to operate container train every applicant shall be required to deposit a non-refundable registration fee of rupees twenty-five crores for all routes on the Indian Railways network.". 6. In the said rules, for rule 11 the following rule shall be substituted, namely: "11. Modalities of granting permission.-(1) The operator(s) registered under Category - I, shall continue to operate in the same category till completion of the concession period: Provided that they shall not be charged any extension or renewal fee for renewal of their concession period in the new single unified all India Container Train Operator (CTO) license for all routes of Indian Railways network. (2) The operator(s) registered in Category-II, III and IV, shall continue to operate in the same category till the completion of their concession period. (3) For the renewal or extension of concession period in the new single unified all India Container Train Operator (CTO) license for all routes of Indian Railways network, the operator(s) registered under Category-II, III and IV shall be required to deposit an amount of rupees fifteen crores which shall be non-refundable (4) The operatorsunder Category-II, III and IV may migrate to the new single unified all India Container Train Operator (CTO) license for all routes of Indian Railways network before completion of twenty years concession period, by depositing rupees fifteen crores which shall be non-refundable.”. 7. In the said rules, in rule 13, for sub-rule (1), the following sub-rule shall be substituted, namely: "(1) The validity of permission shall be for a period of twenty years from the commercial operation date of container trains by the operator and the permission can be extended by twenty years after expiry of the validity of the permission, by the Competent Authority to the same party or operator, as the case may be, on his application, subject to satisfactory performance without any extension fee to be charged: Provided that subsequent extensions to the same operator shall be without any extension or renewal fee.". [F. No. 2024/TT-III/73/1] SYED ABDUL RAHMAN, Executive Director, Traffic, Transportation (Coal) Note: - The principal rules were published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3, Sub-section (i), vide notification number G.S.R. 593(E) dated the 26th September, 2006 and was lastly amended vide notification number G.S.R. 429 (E), dated the 14th June, 2007. Uploaded by Dte. of Printing at Government of India Press, Ring Road, Mayapuri, New Delhi-110064 and Published by the Controller of Publications, Delhi-110054.