IRCTC to double turnover with e-ticketing in the next fiscal

New Delhi, Sep 21 (UNI) Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd (IRCTC) aims to more than double its turnover to Rs 2,500 crore from Rs 1,000 crore in the next fiscal.

''We expect to grow our turnover to more than double to touch Rs 2,500 crore in the next fiscal through e-ticketing,'' said IRCTC Managing Director P K Goel here today while signing an MoU for online ticketing with Sify Ltd.

According to the agreement, online railway ticket bookings on the IRCTC site will be available to customers who either have a credit card or a net banking facility but simultaneously people who do not have these facilities can make the booking by giving cash to an authorised cafe holder started by Sify (iWay) who will book the tickets on giving an identity number of the customer to the cafe holder.

This service of 'cash payment' will be available in selected outlets, initially at 10 places in New Delhi and Faridabad. There will be a surcharge of Rs 25 (on IRCTC site) and Rs 15 (on Sify site) on purchase of each ticket and Rs 40 for upto six people by a customer.

Sify Ltd MD and CEO Raju Vegesna said, ''Initially, we are starting with 10 Sify iWay centers and are sure to reach upto 500 during the next six months for our customers who would like to purchase the tickets by cash.'' He said customers just have to go to the browsing centers and ask for a particular ticket by probing his identity and there will be no charge for the internet browsing as this will be done by the authorised owners of the cafe and this will also help those people who do not have a knowledge of internet.

At present, eight lakh tickets are purchased everyday out of which only 25,000 are purchased online. This process will make more online customers benefitting both, the customers as well as the companies.

UNI SRS PV VV1621