Lok Sabha Question No. 4079 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-08-10
Subject: Ticket Booking by Travel Agencies
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: KAMAKHYA PRASAD TASA

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4079 TO BE ANSWERED ON 10.08.2016

## TICKET BOOKING BY TRAVEL AGENCIES

4079. SHRI KAMAKHYA PRASAD TASA:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  the  Railways  has  allowed  travel  agencies  to  book ticket for public in a limited number;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether these travel agencies sell tickets in the black market at a very high price;
- (d) if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor; and
- (e) the steps taken by the Government to stop black marketing of tickets by travel agencies?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

(SHRI RAJEN GOHAIN)

(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. 4079 BY SHRI KAMAKHYA PRASAD TASA TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 10.08.2016 REGARDING TICKET BOOKING BY TRAVEL AGENCIES.

(a) & (b): With a view to facilitate passengers in getting railway tickets, Indian Railways have authorised following ticketing agents:

- i. Rail  Travellers'  Service  Agents  (RTSAs)  to  book  tickets  online (both i and e-tickets) through website of Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation (IRCTC).
2. Yatri Ticket Suvidha Kendra (YTSK) licencee to issue reserved as well as unreserved tickets through computerised Passenger Reservation  System  (PRS)-cum-Unreserved  Ticketing  System
- ii. (UTS) terminals provided in their offices.
- iii. E-ticketing agents authorised by IRCTC  to book e-tickets through website of IRCTC.
- iv. Jan Sadharan Ticket Booking Sewaks (JTBS) have been engaged to issue unreserved tickets in various parts of important cities.
- v. Station  Ticket  Booking  Agent  (STBA)  have  been  engaged  to issue  unreserved  tickets  from  station  premises  of  certain  'E' category stations.

Suitable safeguards have been provided in their respective schemes to prevent irregularity by the agents.  With a view to reduce the scope of any  misuse,  certain  restrictions  like  debarring  of  agents  from  booking reserved  tickets  during  first  thirty  minutes  of  opening  of  booking,  etc. have  also  been  imposed  on  the  agents  authorized  to  issue  reserved tickets.

- (c)  &  (d):  Whenever  any  case  of  irregularity  committed  by  authorised ticketing agent comes to notice, suitable action as per provisions of the agreement/rule  is  taken.  Such  instances  generally  occur  during  peak rush period when demand exceeds supply.
- (e): The instances of black marketing of tickets are generally reported in case of reserved tickets.  With a view to prevent misuse of reservation system by authorised/unauthorised ticketing agents, various steps have been taken by Indian Railways including the following:-
- i. Carrying  of  prescribed  original  Identity  Proof  has  been  made compulsory for one of the passengers while undertaking journey in reserved class.
- ii. Refund  rules  have  been  revised  with  a  view  to  deter  fictitious booking.
- iii. 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.
- In case of online ticket booking, CAPTCHA has been put in place to check booking in batch mode and through Scripting related tools on  the  Indian  Railway  Catering  and  Tourism  Corporation  Ltd.
- iv. (IRCTC) website.
- v. In case of online ticket booking, only one booking is allowed in one user login session except for return/onward journey between 0800 and 1200 hours.

- vi. Agents  are  debarred  from  booking  of  tickets  during  first  thirty minutes  of  opening  of  booking  i.e.  from  0800  to  0830  hours  for general  booking,  1000  to  1030  hours  and  1100  to  1130  hours  for Tatkal booking on AC class and Non-AC class respectively.
- vii. 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.
- viii. Misuse of reservation system generally occurs 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.
- ix. Surveillance  at  reservation  offices  has  also  been  stepped  up  by installing  Close  Circuit  Television  at  important  PRS  locations  to keep watch on any possible touting activities. Booking patterns at reservation offices are also monitored for detecting unusual pattern and fraudulent working of touts.
- x. General  public  are  also  educated  through  Public  Address  System and  media,  not  to  buy  tickets  from  touts/unscrupulous  elements and consequences of buying tickets from these sources.

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