IRCTC plans to reduce the payment transaction time about 1.5 to 2.5 minutes per ticket booking online

IRCTC plans to reduce the payment transaction time about 1.5 to 2.5 minutes per ticket booking online

15% of online rail tickets booked from Bihar

Patna (PBNE): The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) created a record on April 1 by booking about 13 lakh e-tickets on its site, www.irctc.co.in. Normally, 5 to 6 lakh tickets are booked online from the IRCTC site every day. Bihar has become a major state accounting for about 15% e-tickets being booked daily.

According to IRCTC manager Sandip Dutta, Patna and Darbhanga are the leading places in Bihar for booking e-tickets these days. Interestingly, Bihar and UP are the major states from where online tickets are being booked from rural areas yielding good revenue to the railways, he said, adding the maximum number of e-ticket service agents in rural areas are also in these two states.

Dutta said out of 13 lakh e-tickets booked on April 1, about 15% were from Bihar alone. About 1.5 lakh people in Bihar book e-tickets every day. Buoyed by the increase in the online ticket booking system, the IRCTC has planned measures to providing better services to its customers duly registered with its site www. irctc.co.in, he said.

Railways online ticket reservation through the IRCTC site has registered a big increase compared to about 40,000 bookings per day in 2008, sources said. According to sources, the IRCTC has been making all possible efforts to expand its network to other private sectors.

Confirming the rush for the IRCTC site for ticket booking either online or through SMS system, the IRCTC senior official said, “The IRCTC has managed to maintain its lead position in the domestic travel ticket bookings. But it is keen to make its portal a ‘one-stop shop’ for planning tours and other services,” he said. According to sources, the IRCTC, a Railways’ wing, has already become an agent of International Air Transport Association (IATA). The IRCTC has tied up with Air India and Jet Airways to provide services to passengers, sources said.

The IRCTC ticket business constitutes about 40% of its total revenue. It is also planning to reduce the payment transaction time which is about 1.5 to 2.5 minutes per ticket booking online.