'Book now pay later' option now available for Tatkal tickets

After booking the ticket, the customer will receive the payment link through email and SMS where the payment needs to be made within 14 days.

Indian Railways has announced that people booking Tatkal ticket through IRCTC's website will have the option of 'booking ticket now and paying later'.

This service, which was available only for general tickets so far, has been extended to Tatkal customers. It comes as a major relief to commuters as many a times money used to get debited and the ticket would not be issued due to multiple reasons.

It used to become a major inconvenience as the refund cycle is about seven to 15 days.

For tatkal tickets, IRCTC users will be able to pay via cash, debit card or credit card by opting to have tickets delivered at their doorstep. IRCTC processes 130,000 tatkal transactions daily. A majority of these tickets is booked within minutes of the quota opening.

The new feature eliminates the transaction failures as often the money gets debited and the ticket is not issued due to multiple reasons. The refund cycle is of about seven to 15 days.

How it works?

The customers need to first register with irctc.payondelivery.co.in in order to avail the 'pay on delivery' option. They need to tender either Adhaar or PAN details at the time of registration.

While booking the ticket on IRCTC portal, the user then needs to choose the 'pay-on-delivery' option

The digital delivery happens instantly via SMS /email. The collection happens within 24 hours of the booking

The customer can also pay online through a payment link that will be sent to them at time of booking

There is one more option, a person booking a ticket can select 'ePaylater' on IRCTC website.

After booking the ticket, the customer will receive the payment link through email and SMS where the payment needs to be made within 14 days.

Failure to make payment within 14 days will lead to levy of penal interest at the rate of 36 per annum and may also lead to cancellation of ticket or user account, said reports.

This service will attract a charge of 3.50 per cent of the transaction amount and applicable taxes.

The Indian Railways has also rubbished the reports claiming Tatkal booking and cancellation rules will change from July 1, 2017. The railways, in a statement, dubbed such reports as totally 'incorrect and baseless'.

OneIndia News