E-ticket sales double as internet grows popular

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IRCTC says that while last year 2.14 crore tickets were booked online during the peak season, this year the number rose to 3.81 crore


By Yogesh Avasthi

Posted On Wednesday, November 04, 2009 (Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article§name=News%20-%20City§id=3&contentid=20091104200911040235587819bf73b4b)

If e-ticketing continues to outsmart the traditional ticketing system, serpentine queues outside the booking counters on railway stations will soon be a thing of the past. Currently, 40 per cent of the tickets sold are booked online. Last year, the figure stood at 20 per cent.
A convergence of changing customer behaviour patterns and technology is the reason behind the growing popularity of e-ticketing.
According to ticket sale data provided by Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), which sells rail tickets online, last year around 20 per cent of the tickets issued were booked online.
“Compared to last year, the online booking of tickets has increased two-fold. If the trend continues, by next year we expect around 75 per cent of the bookings to be done online.
This would mean shorter queues outside booking counters,” predicts Sanjay Aggarwal, e-ticketing director of IRCTC adding, “A growing number of people are depending on the internet for their day-to-day activities, be it shopping, booking air or rail tickets or a financial transaction.”
Last year, between April and October — considered to be the peak travel season owing to summer vacation and Diwali — 214,51,473 tickets were booked online. This year the number has grown to 381,95,619, an increase of 167,44,146 e-tickets.
Last August, as many as 34 lakh tickets were booked online. This year, the number touched 55 lakh. Similarly, in September last year, 36 lakh tickets were booked online. This has increased to 58 lakh this year. While last October, 36 lakh e-tickets were sold, this year 64 lakh tickets were booked online.
Now, ATMs and petrol pumps are also equipped to book e-tickets. Every HP/BP petrol pump has IT-enabled service stations manned by the railways, where payment by cash/debit or credit card.

Defence personnel can book online without debit, credit card
While booking an e-ticket, one has to share the credit or debit card details, a new project allows defence personnel to book without the plastic card. Instead, all they would require to do is, key in their employee number and book the ticket on the IRCTC website. The account office at defence headquarters will pay the amount directly to the railways

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