Lok Sabha Question No. 4275 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-03-21
Subject: Promotion of Digital Transactions
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: SUMEDHANAND SARASWATI, RODMAL NAGAR, OM PRAKASH YADAV

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4275 TO BE ANSWERED ON 21.03.2018

## PROMOTION OF DIGITAL TRANSACTONS

†4275. SHRI SUMEDHANAND SARSWATI:

SHRI NAGAR RODMAL:

SHRI OM PRAKASH YADAV:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a)  the  amount  of  revenue  collected  by  the  Government  under digital  transactions  along  with  the  measures  proposed  to  be taken further by the Government to promote digital transactions;
- (b)  the  details  of  the  increase  in  digital  transactions  in  all  the railway zones falling fully or partly in Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan, separately; and
- (c) the additional steps proposed to be taken by the Railways to promote digital transactions in the Railways?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

(SHRI RAJEN GOHAIN)

(a) to (c): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

*****

STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (c)  OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.4275 BY SHRI SUMEDHANAND SARSWATI, SHRI  NAGAR  RODMAL  AND  SHRI  OM  PRAKASH  YADAV  TO  BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 21.03.2018  REGARDING  PROMOTION OF DIGITAL TRANSACTIONS

(a):  The  amount  of  revenue  received  on  account  of  ticket  booking through  digital  means  during  the  Financial  Year  2017-18  (  up  to February, 2018) is ` 27504.51 crore out of which the amount received on  account  of  digital  transaction  in  reserved  passenger  segment  is ` 26100.27  crore  which  is  approximately  70%  of  total  passenger earnings  in  reserved  segment.  The  amount  received  on  account  of digital transaction in unreserved passenger segment is ` 1404.24 crore which is approximately 9% of total passenger earnings in unreserved segment. The cashless transaction in case of freight traffic is above 99%.

Further,  Indian  Railways  have  undertaken  following  measures  to promote digital transactions:-

- i. The  facility  of  online  booking  of  reserved  tickets  has  been provided through Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation  (IRCTC)  website.  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. To incentivise payment through digital means, service charge  on  online  booking  of  tickets  was  withdrawn  for  the tickets booked from 23.11.2016. The facility has been extended upto 31.03.2018.
- ii. Indian Railways have tied up with State Bank of India to install 10,000  Point  of  Sale  (POS)  machines  at  various  locations  of Indian Railways i.e. Passenger Reservation System (PRS)/ Unreserved Ticketing System (UTS) ticket booking counters and Parcel/Goods locations.

- iii. Booking of tickets through mobile phone has also been introduced  wherein  payment  can  be  made  through  credit/debit cards, net banking, e-wallets etc.
- iv. Service  charge  applicable  on  transactions  against  credit/debit cards  for  purchasing  journey  tickets  at  UTS/PRS  counters  has been withdrawn.
- v. International credit/debit cards issued outside India are accepted for booking of e-tickets through IRCTC website.
- vi. Automatic Ticket Vending Machines (ATVMs) have been introduced  to  facilitate  sale  of  unreserved  tickets  which  have provision of payment through smart cards.
- vii. 0.5%  discount  is  given  on  purchase  of  season  tickets  through digital means with effect from 01.01.2017 upto 31.03.2018.
- viii. It has been decided to provide 5% discount on the total value of basic  fare  in  PRS  reserved  counter  ticket  subject  to  maximum amount of discount of ` 50 on a ticket for payments made through Unified  Payment  Interface  (UPI)  including  Bharat  Interface  for Money (BHIM) subject to value of ticket being ` 100 and more.
- ix. Electronic  Payment  system  for  collection  of  freight  charges  is already  in  place.  All  major  customers  are  covered  under  this system and around 83% of total freight is being collected through it,  besides,  there  is  provision  for  collecting  wagon  registration fee under electronic registration of demand for wagons through IRCTC payment gateway.

(b):  State-wise data is not maintained. However, the zone-wise detail of  number  of  digital  transaction  over  Indian  Railways  at  the  ticket booking counter, ticket booking through mobile phone and Automatic Ticket Vending Machine (ATVM) is appended.

The number of transactions at the IRCTC website (e-ticket/i-ticket) is as under:-

| Financial Year   | Number of transactions (in lakhs)   |
|------------------|-------------------------------------|
| 2017-18          | 2237.83                             |
| ( upto February) |                                     |
| 2016-17          | 2092.95                             |

(c):  Improvements  in  the  system  including  digital  transaction  are  a continuous  process.  Modifications  in  the  ticket  booking  system  and the  payment receipt systems with regard to digitization are made in accordance with the advancements in the technologies for the benefit of the rail users.

*****

APPENDIX  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (b)  OF  UNSTARRED QUESTION  NO.4275  BY  SHRI  SUMEDHANAND  SARSWATI,  SHRI NAGAR RODMAL AND SHRI OM PRAKASH YADAV TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 21.03.2018 REGARDING PROMOTION OF DIGITAL TRANSACTIONS

| Number of Digital Transactions (In Lakhs)   | Number of Digital Transactions (In Lakhs)   | Number of Digital Transactions (In Lakhs)   |
|---------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------|
| ZONAL RAILWAYS                              | FY 2017-18 (Up to February)                 | FY 2016-17 (Up to February)                 |
| Central                                     | 1036.07                                     | 1218.33                                     |
| East Central                                | 0.13                                        | 0.01                                        |
| East Coast                                  | 73.91                                       | 79.01                                       |
| Eastern                                     | 57.44                                       | 43.09                                       |
| North Central                               | 21.55                                       | 0.08                                        |
| North Eastern                               | 192.93                                      | 108.47                                      |
| Northeast Frontier                          | 0.10                                        | 0.004                                       |
| Northern                                    | 121.29                                      | 12.69                                       |
| North Western                               | 298.87                                      | 274.74                                      |
| South Central                               | 400.98                                      | 380.62                                      |
| South East Central                          | 56.32                                       | 30.13                                       |
| South Eastern                               | 14.87                                       | 16.65                                       |
| Southern                                    | 376.35                                      | 335.01                                      |
| South Western                               | 71.63                                       | 33.15                                       |
| West Central                                | 163.75                                      | 103.83                                      |
| Western                                     | 486.30                                      | 470.93                                      |
| Total                                       | 3372.48                                     | 3106.73                                     |

*****