In a first, railway passengers can now purchase tickets without having to pay immediately. Railways has introduced the 'buy tickets now and pay later' facility to provide the customers with a better experience, an IRCTC official said.
This facility of buying tickets without immediately payment is available only for purchase of e-tickets from the IRCTC website. To enjoy this service, the ticket will have to be booked at least five days ahead of the journey. Passengers can opt for this facility in all trains and across different classes, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) Ltd official told DNA.
A service charge of 3.5 per cent will be levied on such tickets and the customer will have to pay the ticket amount within 14 days of the purchase of the ticket. To avail this service, it is mandatory for passengers to provide their name, email ID, mobile number, PAN card or Aadhaar details.
IRCTC spokesperson Sandip Dutta said, "The purpose of this service is not to earn money, but to provide better facility to passengers. It is kind of a short-term loan that we will give to the passengers." Dutta added that IRCTC has collaborated with a Mumbai-based firm ePayLater for providing the new service option.
Explaining how IRCTC would ensure that customers pay the ticket amount with 14 days, Dutta said, "The way a credit card is issued after evaluating the CIBIL score of a customer, same procedure will be followed. ePayLater will first check the transaction history of the passenger on the basis of personal details provided by the customer. Ticket will be assigned under the new service only after we are satisfied with the person's previous transaction history."
The officicial added that once the customer gets approval to use the feature, they will be sent an OTP (one time password) to enable them to use the service.
