SMS-based rail ticketing from July1

Come July and you can book your train ticket by sending an SMS. Eyeing the growing mobile phone market in India, IRCTC will launch an SMS-based ticketing system from July 1 with a dedicated number, which is to be announced soon.

Describing the step as environment-friendly, as no print-out is required, a senior IRCTC official said “mobile- based booking provides the users ease and convenience of booking tickets from anywhere and at anytime. There will be no printout requirement , because the ticketing message will be considered as valid during the journey.”

As per the requirement, one has to register their mobile number with IRCTC as well as their bank. The Bank provides an MMID (Mobile Money Identifier) and an OTP (one time password) for the authorization of a payment.

The official said that SMS booking is very simple, since a passenger has to simply type the train number, destination, journey date, class and passenger details such as, name, age and gender in the SMS.

“The sender will receive a transaction ID and then make the payment by sending another SMS. Typing PAY followed by the transaction ID, MMID (as received from the bank) and password (OTP),” said the official adding, “with this the passenger’s ticket is booked.”