The Railways is set to roll out its own e-ticketing service, which will have no room for travel agents and will be reserved for individual users.
“Unlike the e-ticketing service of IRCTC, the new service by Indian Railways will have not cater to travel agents and commercial organisations. Only individual users will be allowed to book on the portal,” said a Railway official.
Travel agents in the IRCTC service have been accused of blocking tickets to sell them at a premium.
Public resentment has also led the Railways to bar travel agents from booking tatkal tickets during peak hours on the IRCTC portal.
Under the new railway e-ticketing service, individual customers would need to register themselves for the first time for availing themselves of the services. The registration will be free of charge.
Service charge
A maximum of eight transactions per user ID per month will be allowed in the beginning, the official said, adding, the service charges levied will be Rs 5 for a sleeper class ticket and Rs 10 per ticket for all others.
IRCTC charges Rs 10 a ticket for sleeper class and Rs 20 for others.
The new service will be available on its Web portal >www.indianrailways.gov.in between 12.30 a.m. to 11.30 p.m.
Its launch will be announced after necessary clearance for payment gateway transaction, the official said.
“The project was sanctioned with a view to consolidating all the services and information on a single window interface for the public,” the official said.
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