Considering the long queue on the railway ticket counter and traffic jam over the internet for booking the Indian railways ticket, government has launched Rail Ticket Booking through short messaging services (SMS) as a pilot project.
India has high mobile phone penetration and it would be very convenient way to book ticket through short messaging services. It is just like sending normal sms.
For launching this service, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd. (IRCTC), the public sector enterprises under the Ministry of Railways that also offers internet railway and flight booking service, has tied up with Bharat BPO Ltd. Bharat BPO Ltd has been associated with Indian Railways for more than six years for providing service of Railway Number Enquiry 139.
Launching this initiative SMS-based ticketing system, Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge said it will also help the transporter deal with the touts who fleece the passengers.
"This service will be particularly useful for labourers and workers staying away from their homes and who have to book tickets to travel to their native place," said Kharge, adding, "While internet access in India is only about 10 per cent, more than 80 per cent people in the country use mobile phones."
Online booking of tickets is now around 45 percent of total reserved tickets and has eased the rush at booking counters, he said.
However, the real test of the service will be payment options available on the mobile phone as users will have to get an account opened through a bank or an agency approved by the Reserve Bank of India, said officials.
Railway Board Chairman Vinay Mittal said the service will be improved further with provision of more payment options, a user-friendly interface and value added services like alerts and updates.
He said payment through mobile phones was still evolving and banks are working on providing a safe, secured and quick payment mechanism.
As the payment options mature and users get accustomed to SMS based booking, it has the potential of overtaking bookings through internet as well as the booking counters, he said. At present Interbank Mobile Payment System (IMPS) is necessary for booking the ticket while further payment options including direct debit, payment through Debit/Credit/Prepaid card and internet banking are being explored.
Mobile Money Identifier (MMID) is also necessary for making payment through mobile. MMID is a seven digit random number issued by the bank upon registration. Remitter (customer who wants to send money) and Beneficiary (customer who wants to receive the money) should have this MMID for doing this interbank funds transfer.
Pre-requisites for booking tickets through SMS on 139:
Booking Process for General Quota Ticket
STEP-1: Send below SMS with Journey & Passenger Information to 139.
Type <BOOK> <Train No.> <From City> <ToCity> <TravelDate(DDMM)> <Class> <Passenger1-Name> <Age> <Gender> <Passenger2-Name> <Age> <Gender> (Upto 6 Passengers) and send message to 139.
For Example:
BOOK 12420 NDLS GZB 0107 SL Ravi 35 M Rekha 30 F
If the format sent is valid, you would receive a response message from 139 that look alike:
Trans Id: 34004567 Ticket Amount: 120 IRCTC SC: 11.24 Total Amount: 131.24
Seat: AVAILABLE -0095. For Payment SMS PAY <34004567> IMPS <MMID> <OTP> IRCTCUserID to 139 to book ticket.
STEP-2: For payment, Send SMS with below syntax to 139.
PAY <Transaction ID as received> <IMPS as received from bank> <OTP as received from bank for this transaction> <IRCTCUserID>
For Example:
PAY 340045667 IMPS 98453672 453289 Ravi
Confirm message will be received from 139 on successful booking of the ticket.
For Example:
Your ticket booked successfully: PNR is: 2345678901 Ticket No: 0672261674 Booking Status: Rakesh CONFIRM S2 49 Rekha CONFIRM S2 50 Ticket Amt: 120.0 SC: 11.24 Src: New Delhi Dst: Ghaziabad Date of Journey: 01/07/2013 Sch Dep 12:30 hrs
IRCTC, CMD briefing the process of booking ticket through SMS
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