JOIN USThe Railways is planning to popularise e-ticketing through mobile phones in a big way. The facility, already in place, is being used by only about a thousand travellers on a daily basis.
“We are popularising paperless ticketing. The e-ticketing has been quite popular, but booking through mobile phones is yet to become popular. The Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), the service provider for e-ticketing, has decided to campaign for its wider use,” said ministry spokesperson Anil Saxena.
Passengers using this facility need not carry printed ticket. The SMS sent by the Railways showing travel details will work as an e-ticket.
After initial registration and downloading of suitable software on the mobile handset with internet facility, one can book a reserved ticket through it.
Once registered, the user can avail the facility anytime by using a login ID and a password.
After booking the ticket, the passenger will get a reservation message with full details of the ticket including PNR, train number, date of journey and class.
This SMS message would be treated at par with the print-out of the e-ticket known as Electronic Reservation Slip (ERS). Passengers will have to show the message during travel is sufficient.
At present, the software application is provided by Ngpay, Paymate and Atom.