Lok Sabha Question No. 4040 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-17
Subject: e-Ticketing
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Harish Dwivedi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4040 TO BE ANSWERED ON 17.07.2019

## E-TICKETING

†4040. SHRI HARISH DWIVEDI:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) the year in which the Railways launched e-ticketing;
- (b)  the  amount  of  revenue  collected  through  e-ticketing  during last two years and the current year;
- (c) the total  number of cancelled tickets along with the percentage of cancelled e-tickets;
- (d) whether the Railways is proposing to prepare any new policy to avoid unnecessary cancellation of e-tickets; and
- (e) if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS AND COMMERCE & INDUSTRY (SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)

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

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## STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (e)  OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4040 BY SHRI HARISH DWIVEDI TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 17.07.2019 REGARDING E-TICKETING

(a):  Online  ticketing  through  Indian  Railway  Catering  and  Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) website was started in 2002 by introducing the concept  of  i-ticket  where  the  ticket  was  booked  through  IRCTC website and the physical ticket was delivered through courier at the address  given  by  the  passenger.  Subsequently  in  2005,  e-ticketing was introduced wherein passenger was required to take a print-out of  the  Electronic  Reservation  Slip  (ERS)  and  carry  one  of  the prescribed proofs of identity in original for undertaking travel subject to appearance of name  in the reservation chart. At present, passengers who have booked e-tickets can either take a print-out of the Electronic Reservation Slip (ERS) or can display the Virtual  Reservation  Message  (VRM)/Short  Message  Service  (SMS) sent by IRCTC containing all vital details.

(b): The details of earnings from e-ticketing during last two years and the current year are as under:-

| Financial Year      | Earnings from e-ticketing ( ` in crore)   |
|---------------------|-------------------------------------------|
| 2017-18             | 28,475.46                                 |
| 2018-19             | 32,069.68                                 |
| 2019-20 (upto June) | 8,791.12                                  |

(c): The year-wise details of total number of tickets cancelled along with percentage of e-tickets cancelled with respect to total tickets cancelled are as under:-

| Financial Year      |   Total number of tickets cancelled (in lakhs) |   Percentage of e-tickets cancelled with respect to total tickets cancelled |
|---------------------|------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 2017-18             |                                         755.95 |                                                                       73.36 |
| 2018-19             |                                         837.47 |                                                                       77.73 |
| 2019-20 (upto June) |                                         237.9  |                                                                       79.17 |

(d)  &  (e):    In  order  to  enhance  passenger  convenience,  a  tool  to predict  the  probability  of  waitlisted  ticket  getting  confirmed  at  the time of booking as well as during PNR enquiry of waitlisted ticket has been  integrated with IRCTC  website. Further, with a view to providing  confirmed  accommodation  to  waiting  list  passengers  and to ensure optimal utilization of available accommodation, a scheme known as Alternate Train Accommodation (ATAS) known as 'VIKALP'  has  been  introduced  to  cover  all  types  of  trains  on  all sectors.  The  scheme  aims  at  providing  waiting  list  passengers accommodation in alternate train having vacant accommodation. For this facility, waiting list passenger has to give an option at the time of  booking  of  ticket  and  passengers  with  waiting  list  status  at  the time  of  preparation  of  first  reservation  charts  are  shifted  to  other trains, subject to availability of vacant accommodation.

The waiting list position of trains is monitored on regular basis and to cater  to  additional  rush  during  peak  periods  special  trains  are  run and  load  of  existing  trains  are  augmented  subject  to  operational feasibility. The current provisions/schemes aim at reducing uncertainty  regarding  confirmation  of  ticket  and  provide  reserved accommodation  to  the  extent  possible.  This  is  an  on-going  and continuous process.

In case the status of an e-ticket continues to remain fully waitlisted even after the preparation of first reservation chart, then the names of all such passengers booked on that Passenger Name Record (PNR) are  dropped  from  the  reservation  chart.  The  due  refund  of  fare  is credited  directly  to  the  account  from  which  booking  transaction  is done in such cases. Due to the auto-refund facility for fully waitlisted e-tickets, such passengers are saved from the botheration of taking refund from  the Railway  reservation counters. At present, the existing facilities are found to be adequate to meet the current level of  passenger  demand  and  no  new  policy  for  avoiding  unnecessary cancellation of e-tickets is under consideration.

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