Indian Railways: Mobile App Rail Saarthi, Other Schemes Launched to Promote Digital Transactions in India

Provision of enhanced passenger amenities in train coaches is a continual endeavour of the Indian Railways and new trains having better passenger amenities, such as Tejas, Humsafar and Antodaya have been introduced during the last one year.

Author: Sandhya Dangwal

Updated: August 3, 2017, 10:11 AM IST

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https://www.india.com/business/indian-railways-mobile-app-rail-saarthi-other-schemes-launched-to-promote-digital-transactions-in-india-2374040/ Copy

New Delhi, August 3: The Indian Railways has always been on a go to ramp up its services and provide all the modern facilities to all its passengers. Comfortable hassle-free journey with e-tickets, better waiting and lodging services across railway stations and new facilities to serve passengers have all contributed to the transformation of the Indian Railways.  Indian Railways have installed CCTV cameras on a limited number of coaches of passenger and suburban trains on a pilot basis while a Security Help Line number 182 is made operational over Indian Railways for security related assistance to passengers in distress.

Apart from this, provision of enhanced passenger amenities in train coaches is a continual endeavour of the Indian Railways and new trains having better passenger amenities, such as Tejas, Humsafar and Antodaya have been introduced during the last one year. To improve passenger amenities, lifts and escalators at the stations for facilitating movement across platforms have been introduced.

A number of schemes have been introduced for promoting digital transactions on Indian Railways that include the facility of online booking of reserved ticket has been provided through Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) website.

1. The payment for tickets booked through IRCTC website is made through various cashless modes such as net banking, through credit/debit cards, cash cards and e-wallets.
2. To incentivize payment through digital money, service charge on online booking of tickets was withdrawn for the tickets booked from 23.11.2016. The facility has been extended up to 30.09.2017.
3. New mobile application ‘Rail Saarthi’ for booking of rail tickets has also been launched.
4. Service charge applicable on transactions against credit/debit cards for purchasing journey tickets at UTS/ PRS counters has been withdrawn.
5. The facility of booking unreserved ticket including journey, season and platform tickets through mobile phone has been introduced in all suburban sections of Central, Western, Southern, Eastern, South Central, South Eastern and Delhi-Palwal and Delhi-Ghaziabad non-suburban sections of Northern Railway. Additional payment options under the digital modes have also been introduced to widen the scope of digital payments for purchase of unreserved tickets.
6. The facility of renewal of season tickets through IRCTC website has been provided for suburban train services on Central and Western Railways wherein payment is made through digital modes.
7. Point of Sale (POS) machines are being installed at various locations of Indian Railways i.e. Passenger Reservation System (PRS) locations, Unreserved Ticketing System (UTS) locations, Parcel/Goods locations under an agreement with the State Bank of India to install 10,000 POS machines.
8. International Credit/ Debit cards issued outside India are accepted for booking of e-tickets through IRCTC website. Certain payment solution providers such as e-wallets, mVisa etc. give frequent cashbacks to their users while booking e-tickets through IRCTC website.
9. 5% discount is given on purchase of season tickets through digital means with effect from 01.01.2017 up to 30.09.2017. Free accidental insurance cover of upto `10 lakh for confirmed/RAC passengers has been extended in case of tickets booked online from 10.12.2016 to 30.09.2017.
10. However, the introduction of new schemes or modification of existing schemes to promote the use of digital money is a continuous and ongoing process. Provisions have been made in new Catering Policy 2017 for installation of the facility for cashless transaction viz. POS/ Swipe machine etc. in all the mobile and static units. 5% discount is given on online payment made for availing services like online booking of retiring rooms with effect from 01.01.2017.

The Indian Railways has more than 8000 Stations. Certain amenities are provided at the time of construction of new stations based on anticipated volume of traffic. Amenities are further augmented from time to time with growth in passenger traffic handled at stations, based on the felt need, expectations of the travelling public and availability of funds. The establishment of Yatri Ticket Suvidha Kendras for issuing of tickets through public private partnership for establishment and operation of computerised Passenger Reservation System (PRS)-cum Unreserved Ticketing System (UTS) terminals have been set up to facilitate hassle-free travel.