Current Situation of IRCTC for passenger|Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation facilities
Channel: KNOWLEDGE INFO
Date: 14/05/2020

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is a subsidiary of the Indian Railways that handles the catering, tourism and online ticketing operations of the latter, with around 5,50,000 to 6,00,000 bookings everyday.[2]

IRCTC held an initial public offering on the National Stock Exchange on 30 September 2019, the IPO got oversubscription of 112 times.[3] The base price of shares was set between ₹315 and ₹320 (US$4.60) per share for the IPO.[4] When the listing went live on 14 October 2019, the share price opened at a ₹625 and ₹646 on NSE and BSE respectively and rose massively from there.[5] The IPO has reduced Indian Railway's shareholding in the company to 87.40%.[6]

IRCTC started running private trains, and "Tejas Express" become India's first private train on 4th Oct 2019. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath flagged off the first Tejas Express, the country's first "private" train run by its subsidiary IRCTC, on the Lucknow-New Delhi route.
Online ticketing
It is one of the Miniratna companies of Central Indian government. Prior to its inception, Indian railway passengers had little options for quality food while travelling. Passengers have to get off from trains at stations and buy sub-standard and unhygienic food available. The short halt at stations and the sudden surge in crowd at the stalls added to the travelers' panic. After the advent of IRCTC, pantry cars were introduced inside long or medium distance trains which catered to passengers by serving freshly cooked quality food, thus revolutionizing train travel in India. It pioneered internet-based rail ticket booking through its website, as well as from the mobile phones via WiFi, GPRS or SMS. It also provides SMS facility to check PNR status and Live Train Status as well. In addition to e-tickets, Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation also offers I-tickets that are basically like regular tickets except that they are booked online and delivered by post. The tickets PNR status is also made available. Commuters on the suburban rail can also book season tickets through the website. It has also launched a loyalty program called Shubh Yatra for frequent travelers. Through this program, passengers can avail of discounts on all tickets booked round the year by paying an upfront annual fee.

Seeking to make it easier to book e-tickets, It launched a scheme called Rolling Deposit Scheme (RDS). RDS is an e-ticket booking scheme allowing passengers to reserve seats against advance money kept with the corporation.[7] It has also added flights and hotels booking facilities to their line of online reservation services. The website is managed by TCS.[8]

Tatkal scheme
Under the Tatkal scheme, passengers who plan their journey at short notice can book their tickets in almost all Mail/Express trains through the Indian railways internet portal. The booking starts at 10:00 AM daily for AC coach reservation and for Non-AC timing is residual to 11.00 AM, one day prior to the departure of the train from source station.[9] Tatkal E-ticket can be booked for selected trains one day in advance excluding date of journey from the train originating station. It can be booked on the opening day from 10:00 AM for AC coach and 11:00 AM for NON-AC.[10] Passengers travelling on Tatkal tickets should carry a photo ID proof along with them to be shown to the ticket checker. Earlier this year, the website has launched Lite version which doesn't include ads, pop ups, etc. and check PNR status.[11]

Tourism
Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation also organises budget and deluxe package tours for domestic and foreign tourists. A popular tourism package for budget tourists covering important tourist destinations across India is called "Bharat Darshan". Luxury tourism packages are also available, that involve special luxury trains such as Buddhist Circuit Train and Maharajas' Express operations.[12]

Apart from conventional tourism, it also offers adventure tourism packages that include water sports, adventure and wildlife treks, etc. A provision for customising tours as per specific requirements is also an added attraction. Recently a new venture of Indian Railways, named as Rail Tourism India has been launched to provide direct catering and tourism packages to users.

Train operations
Mainly IRCTC provides catering and e-ticketing services but it also runs India's first semi-high speed fully air-conditioned train Tejas Express.[13]

Milestones
As one of the biggest e-commerce portal in India, it made a lot of records.

On 2 September 2013, nearly 5,82,000 tickets booked in a day.
On 19 March 2014, nearly 5,80,000 tickets booked in a day.[14]
On 1 April 2015, Indian Railway Catering and T