Lok Sabha Question No. 344 (STARRED), answered on 2016-08-10
Subject: Multiple Bookings
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: KIRTI (JHA) AZAD

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.344 TO BE ANSWERED ON 10.08.2016

## MULTIPLE BOOKINGS

- *344. SHRI KIRTI AZAD:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  instances  of  mischievous  elements  making multiple bookings favouring people's representatives without their knowledge  and  impersonation have been reported and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the number  of impersonation and no show  cases reported  in  first  class  air-conditioned  coaches  during  the last two years and the current year;
- (c)  whether connivance of railway officials have also been reported in these cases and if so, the details thereof; and
- (d)   the steps taken or proposed to be taken by the Railways to check this practice of multiple bookings?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF RAILWAYS

(SHRI SURESH PRABHAKAR PRABHU)

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

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STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (d)  OF STARRED QUESTION NO.344 BY SHRI KIRTI AZAD TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 10.08.2016 REGARDING MULTIPLE BOOKINGS.

(a) & (b): Some  instances  of  multiple  booking  being  made  in  the names  of  Hon'ble Members  of  Parliament  do  come  to  notice. However, no case of impersonation has been reported.  The details of persons non-turned up in the train are not maintained.

- (c): No, Madam.
- (d): Although improvement /rationalization of computerised Passenger Reservation System(PRS)  so as to reduce the scope of its misuse is a continuous and ongoing process, the steps taken with a view to keep a check on such activities in recent past are as under:-
- (i) To streamline the system of confirming of berths/seats out of Emergency Quota on the requests received from Members of Parliament/Union Ministers, a letter has been issued to them requesting  to  send  the  details  of  the  persons  authorised  by them  on  this  account  indicating  the  name,  designation  and signatures of two such persons, to Ministry of Railways.
- (ii) Instructions have been issued to ticket checking staff to be more  vigilant  and  conduct  proper  and  thorough  checks  of prescribed  ID  proofs  of  passengers  undertaking  journey  in reserved coaches.
- A decision has been taken to feed a few of the key details of computerised Passenger Reservation System (PRS) to validate the inputs at
- (iii) profile of Members of Parliament in the the time of booking of tickets in their favour.

- Carrying of prescribed original Identity Proof has been made compulsory  for  one  of  the  passenger  while  undertaking
- (iv) journey in any reserved class.
- (v) Refund rules have been revised with a view to deter fictitious booking.
- (vi) Computerised  reservation  system  has  been  streamlined  by making a provision  for  automatic  preparation  of  reservation charts at least four hours before the scheduled departure of train and to allow booking of vacant accommodation thereafter till preparation of second reservation charts through  internet  as  well  as  any  computerised  Passenger Reservation System (PRS) counter.
- (vii) The  timings  of  opening  of  booking  under  Tatkal  scheme  on the opening day of reservation have been staggered to 1000 hours & 1100 hours on the previous day of journey from train originating station for AC and non-AC classes respectively.
- (viii) Authorised ticketing agents have been restricted from booking  Tatkal  tickets  during  the  first  thirty  minutes  of opening of Tatkal booking i.e. from 1000 hours to 1030 hours and from 1100 hours to 1130 hours.
- (ix) Joint  as  well  as  independent  checks  are  conducted  by Commercial, Vigilance & Security Departments at Reservation  Offices,  which  are  supplemented  by  checks  on the train to detect the cases of misuse of reserved tickets.

- (x) To  curb  malpractices  by  Railway  staff  in  connivance  with authorised/  unauthorised  agents,  checks  are  conducted  in booking  offices,  reservation  offices,  trains  etc.    Stringent action  is  taken  against  the  railway  staff  under  Disciplinary and Appeal Rules, if found including in malpractices.
- (xi) Misuse  of  reservation  system  generally  occur  due  to  gap between  demand  and  supply  of  reserved  accommodations. To  meet  the  additional  demand  of  passengers,  especially during festivals and peak rush periods, including Deepawali, Chhat  Pooja,  Durga  Puja,  and  Eid,  special  trains  are  run, carrying capacity of existing trains is augmented, keeping in view the pattern of traffic, operational feasibility and availability of resources.
- (xii) Surveillance at reservation offices has also been stepped up by installing Close Circuit Television at important  PRS locations to keep watch on any possible misuse of reservation system.

In addition, various measures have also been taken to facilitate passengers  in  getting  reserved/unreserved  tickets,  some  of  which are as under:-

- (i) Computerised PRS centers have been provided at around 3604 locations.
- (ii) The  Next  Generation  e-Ticketing  system  (NGeT)  has  been designed and implemented  on  Indian Railway Catering  & Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) website www.irctc.co.in to enhance overall customer experience.

- (iii) The timings for e-ticket booking have been extended and now this facility is available from 0020 hours to 2345 hours.
- (iv) To minimize difficulties to passengers who do not have access to  internet  or  are  not  used  to  internet  working  and  online payments, more than 85,000 sub agents have been permitted to book e-tickets as IRCTC authorised e-ticket agents.
- (v) To meet the requirement of those persons who are reluctant to use their bank/credit card to book the ticket and also those who do not have net banking enabled bank account or cards, IRCTC has  launched  another  mode  of  payment  gateway  'Cash  on Delivery (CoD)' on pilot basis for booking online rail tickets.
- (vi) A cheaper, reliable and smoother payment option for e-ticketing - E-wallet was introduced in 2012 as a pilot project. With  several  technical  changes  now  almost  round  the  clock booking  of  e-tickets  is  possible  through  the  wallet  whose success rate is more than 99%.
- (vii) Mobile applications have also been developed in Android, IOS, Windows  and  Blackberry  through  which  on  an  average,  daily around 30,000 tickets are booked through the mobile applications.

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