Twitter
Advertisement

How about m-booking of air tickets?

Reliance Infocomm ties up with Indian Airlines to enable a mobile phone user, who also has a credit card, can buy airline tickets sitting at office or home.

Latest News
article-main
FacebookTwitterWhatsappLinkedin

NEW DELHI: After web-booking of airline tickets, welcome to mobile ticketing.

Now a mobile phone user, who also has a credit card, can buy airline tickets sitting at office or home. But, right now, the service is available only to Reliance Infocomm mobile users travelling Indian Airlines.

This service is available only for domestic passengers and not an international destination.

Mobile ticketing is meant for those who don’t have access to personal computers and the Internet, Reliance Delhi Circle CEO Navneet Saluja said after launching the m-commerce service here on Tuesday.

When asked whether the service would be extended to other airlines too, Saluja said, “It’s not an exclusive arrangement with Indian Airlines,” indicating that more may be in the offing.

Of Reliance Infocomm’s 14 million subscriber base, about 9 million will be able to access the service. That is because only around 9 million users have the Java-enabled R-World application on their handsets, officials pointed out. Most of the mobile phones without this application are high-end general packet radio services (GPRS) enabled handsets, and those users would anyway have access to Internet booking, they argued.

Explaining the technology involved in mobile booking, Saluja said, “It’s not SMS-driven, but it is an adaptation of the Internet payment gateway available for e-commerce sites.” You need to pay Rs 25 a month or Rs 3 a day to use mobile booking, which is clubbed with several other R-World applications. One can use any of those applications, including the Reliance phone bill payment, rail reservation, shopping and auction, at that cost.

The phone user will have to select the airline booking menu, enter the origin and destination points and the date of travel. The fare (both economy and executive class) will pop up on the mobile screen next. After that, select the fare, and book your ticket, giving your credit card number. Now, you get a passenger name record (PNR), which you can show at any of the Indian Airlines counters at the airport, and collect your ticket.

Reliance officials refused to give any consolidated figures of m-commerce users on its network.

However they claimed that around 2,000 people do rail reservations using their mobiles on any given day.

Indian Airlines director commercial Anil Goyal said, “As a national carrier, our aim is to service customers and expand our reach.” The national carrier flies to 54 domestic destinations, and 18 international ones. But, right now, the offering is only for domestic travellers.

With this, m-commerce appears to be catching up in a big way. Recently, Bharti also announced a tie-up with ICICI Bank, whereby an Airtel user could make payment through his mobile, anywhere anytime.

Find your daily dose of news & explainers in your WhatsApp. Stay updated, Stay informed-  Follow DNA on WhatsApp.
Advertisement

Live tv

Advertisement
Advertisement