IRCTC has launched a new facility for the customers to make the process of Tatkal train ticket booking easier. Tatkal train tickets can now be booked online, and the amount can be paid later.
IRCTC processes 1, 30,000 Tatkal transactions daily, and a majority of these tickets are booked within minutes of Tatkal quota being opened for booking.
The ‘pay on delivery’ feature circumvents the use of a payment gateway and will help users make the bookings in just a few seconds, increasing their chance of booking a confirmed ticket under the Tatkal quota as availability can turn into waitlisted ticket during the time taken to validate a transaction on a payment gateway.
The digital delivery of ticket happens immediately through a short message service or e-mail, although the collection of payment happens within 24 hours of the booking. This feature is extremely time saving as the Customers can also pay online through a payment link that will be sent to them at time of booking and get ₹ 50 off if they pay within four hours of booking.
Online payment process can be longer and cumbersome to multiple verification checks by banks, whereas payment on delivery transaction can be done in almost half the time taken for online payments.
In case of refusal or cancellation before delivery, the customer will be liable to pay the cancellation and delivery charges, failing which may attract deactivation of user’s account and strict action as per law.
Anurag Bajpai, CEO – Anduril Technologies, said, “the move by IRCTC aims to encourage people who buy tickets off the Railway reservation counters to move to online medium. Customers need to first register with IRCTC’s pay on delivery link to avail themselves of the option.”
IRCTC has introduced this payment scheme through ‘ePaylater’ powered by Arthashastra Fintech as a pilot project. Under this scheme a customer has the option to pay after 15 days of booking an e-ticket through IRCTC website. The service charge levied on using ‘ePaylater’ scheme is 3.5% of transaction amount and applicable taxes.
According to an official release based on the information given by the Minister of State for Railways Rajen Gohain in a written reply in the Lok Sabha, ePaylater is also displayed at the payment page of IRCTC website as a payment option, to make people aware of the availability of this payment method.
