Lok Sabha Question No. 289 (STARRED), answered on 2015-08-10
Subject: Booking of Railway Tickets
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: N.K. PREMACHANDRAN

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 289

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 10.08.2015

## BOOKING OF RAILWAY TICKETS

- *289. SHRI K.N. RAMACHANDRAN:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) the total number of tickets booked each through the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) and the Passenger Reservation  System  (PRS)  during  the  last  one  year  and  the  current year, month-wise;
- (b) the additional cost incurred on each ticket at the time of booking through IRCTC and PRS;
- (c) whether it is a fact that the online tickets booked through IRCTC is a better option than PRS in terms of cost to a passenger and if so, the details thereof; and
- (d)  the steps taken by the Railways to provide concession for online ticket bookings considering use of least manpower, paper etc. ?

## 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. 289 BY SHRI K.N. RAMACHANDRAN TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 10.08.2015 REGARDING BOOKING OF RAILWAY TICKETS

(a):  The month-wise details of total number of tickets booked through the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) and the Passenger  Reservation  System  (PRS)  counters  during  the  Financial Year 2014-15 and during the period from April, 2015 to June, 2015 are given in the Appendix.

(b):  The additional cost incurred on each ticket at the time of booking through  IRCTC  and  PRS  is  not  maintained.  However,  the  cost  per e-ticket issued through IRCTC for the Financial Year 2013-14 is ` 7.22, which is likely to be between ` 15 and ` 20 per ticket in FY  2014-15  on  account  of  additional  investment  on  upgradation  of ticketing infrastructure including switching over to the Next Generation e-Ticketing System (NGeT) and further large scale augmentation  of  the  Information  Technology  (IT)  infrastructure  for catering to increase number of booking demands. With regard to PRS tickets, it is practically not feasible to establish the cost incurred on each ticket issued through the PRS counter since it involves various factors  such  as  cost  of  premises,  equipment,  their  maintenance, manpower  cost and other costs such as electricity, furniture, stationery, networking etc., which varies from location to location.

(c):  While booking a reserved ticket through internet, a passenger has to pay  additional charges  like service  charges  of  IRCTC,  bank transaction charges and service charges of agents  (in  case  ticket  is booked through authorised agents), etc. which are not payable in case of PRS ticket. However, which of the two is a better option is a matter of choice exercised by the passenger.

(d):  For providing facility of booking reserved tickets through internet, expenditure is incurred on procurement and maintenance of hardware and software, cost of technical manpower, recurring expenditure like rent,  electricity  charges,  internet  bandwidth  charges,  administrative cost,  etc.  Hence,  no  concession  is  provided  by  the  Railways  for booking tickets online.

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APPENDIX REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) OF STARRED QUESTION NO. 289 BY SHRI K.N. RAMACHANDRAN TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 10.08.2015 REGARDING BOOKING OF RAILWAY TICKETS

| Month-wise number of tickets booked through PRS counter and IRCTC for the Financial Year 2014-15 and during the period from April, 2015 to June, 2015.   | Month-wise number of tickets booked through PRS counter and IRCTC for the Financial Year 2014-15 and during the period from April, 2015 to June, 2015.   | Month-wise number of tickets booked through PRS counter and IRCTC for the Financial Year 2014-15 and during the period from April, 2015 to June, 2015.   | Month-wise number of tickets booked through PRS counter and IRCTC for the Financial Year 2014-15 and during the period from April, 2015 to June, 2015.   | Month-wise number of tickets booked through PRS counter and IRCTC for the Financial Year 2014-15 and during the period from April, 2015 to June, 2015.   |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                                                                                                          |                                                                                                                                                          | Number of tickets issued ( in lakhs)                                                                                                                     | Number of tickets issued ( in lakhs)                                                                                                                     | Number of tickets issued ( in lakhs)                                                                                                                     |
| Year                                                                                                                                                     | Month                                                                                                                                                    | Tickets through counter                                                                                                                                  | booked PRS                                                                                                                                               | booked IRCTC                                                                                                                                             |
| 2014                                                                                                                                                     | April                                                                                                                                                    |                                                                                                                                                          | 139.29                                                                                                                                                   | 134.36                                                                                                                                                   |
| 2014                                                                                                                                                     | May                                                                                                                                                      |                                                                                                                                                          | 161.79                                                                                                                                                   | 137.50                                                                                                                                                   |
| 2014                                                                                                                                                     | June                                                                                                                                                     |                                                                                                                                                          | 149.29                                                                                                                                                   | 146.44                                                                                                                                                   |
| 2014                                                                                                                                                     | July                                                                                                                                                     |                                                                                                                                                          | 125.18                                                                                                                                                   | 144.93                                                                                                                                                   |
| 2014                                                                                                                                                     | August                                                                                                                                                   |                                                                                                                                                          | 122.30                                                                                                                                                   | 154.33                                                                                                                                                   |
| 2014                                                                                                                                                     | September                                                                                                                                                |                                                                                                                                                          | 111.18                                                                                                                                                   | 136.92                                                                                                                                                   |
| 2014                                                                                                                                                     | October                                                                                                                                                  |                                                                                                                                                          | 129.46                                                                                                                                                   | 172.04                                                                                                                                                   |
| 2014                                                                                                                                                     | November                                                                                                                                                 |                                                                                                                                                          | 131.57                                                                                                                                                   | 150.54                                                                                                                                                   |
| 2014                                                                                                                                                     | December                                                                                                                                                 |                                                                                                                                                          | 123.72                                                                                                                                                   | 166.69                                                                                                                                                   |
| 2015                                                                                                                                                     | January                                                                                                                                                  |                                                                                                                                                          | 115.51                                                                                                                                                   | 161.95                                                                                                                                                   |
| 2015                                                                                                                                                     | February                                                                                                                                                 |                                                                                                                                                          | 112.94                                                                                                                                                   | 147.39                                                                                                                                                   |
| 2015                                                                                                                                                     | March                                                                                                                                                    |                                                                                                                                                          | 117.20                                                                                                                                                   | 161.26                                                                                                                                                   |
| Total for 2014-15                                                                                                                                        | Financial Year                                                                                                                                           |                                                                                                                                                          | 1,539.43                                                                                                                                                 | 1,814.35                                                                                                                                                 |
| 2015                                                                                                                                                     | April                                                                                                                                                    |                                                                                                                                                          | 124.01                                                                                                                                                   | 160.38                                                                                                                                                   |
| 2015                                                                                                                                                     | May                                                                                                                                                      |                                                                                                                                                          | 139.63                                                                                                                                                   | 174.01                                                                                                                                                   |
| 2015                                                                                                                                                     | June                                                                                                                                                     |                                                                                                                                                          | 124.84                                                                                                                                                   | 161.70                                                                                                                                                   |
| Total for Financial Year 2015-16 ( Upto June,2015)                                                                                                       | Total for Financial Year 2015-16 ( Upto June,2015)                                                                                                       |                                                                                                                                                          | 388.48                                                                                                                                                   | 496.09                                                                                                                                                   |

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