Monday, May 5, 2003		Feature

Book online and travel at leisure
Shalini Singh

April 16, 1853, will always be written in golden words not only in the history of Indian Railways but also in the history of India. This was the day when the first train moved from Mumbai to Thane.

In order to make our travel more enjoyable and comfortable, Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited (IRCTC) was incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956. Later, to catch up with the fast moving world and to cater to the wider section of the society, www.irctc.co.in was launched.

The main idea behind this was to make the facilities available from anywhere and everywhere. The Website focuses on the online reservation process. Online ticket booking in any class, against general and ladies quota, on payment of fare in full for adults and children with a maximum of six berths/seats at a time is one of the best available privileges.

But you can only enjoy this facility if you are a registered user and you abide by the mentioned terms and conditions. To register yourself, just log on to www.irctc.co.in and fill up the form for the New User. It is a simple form, emphasizing on the address that you mention. You should be careful about the user name and password because this is the unique ID.

Your booking and reservation is confirmed online, after you complete the transaction successfully. Further, the system will issue you a unique Transaction ID for each booking. You must preserve this Transaction ID and all other details for your future reference. This also has the PNR number mentioned on the ticket. So if you want to check the status of the waitlist or RAC tickets, you will need this transaction ID.

Even though you are a registered user, there are some limitations. You cannot book more than four tickets (up to a maximum of 6 passengers in a ticket) in one calendar month. If you are looking for a ticket with concession, you will be disappointed. Only senior citizens aged above 60 years who are eligible for senior citizen’s concession on the basic mail/express fare can have this privilege.

The online booking service is allowed from 8 AM to 10 PM (Indian Standard Time) on weekdays and from 8 AM to 2 PM on Sundays. As per the rules, the booking is accepted up to 60 days in advance of the date of journey from the originating station of the train. You have to make sure that you give 2 working days before the date of journey so that the ticket can reach you in time.

All payments towards the cost of the tickets issued are to be done through the valid credit cards. A service charge of Rs. 40/- per ticket for Sleeper Class / Second Class (including service tax) and Rs 60/- per ticket for higher classes (including service tax) will be levied. You must know that the service charge levied is not refundable.

The payment on your credit card is processed by either of the two payment gateways viz. ICICI / Citibank Payment Gateways. The choice of Payment Gateway lies with you.

Once you have booked and the transaction is successful, the ticket will be dispatched to the address provided in the ticket-booking page for those who have opted to receive the tickets through courier service. For those, who opted to personally collect their tickets from the nominated collection centre at New Delhi, the tickets will be made available after half-an-hour from the time of booking.

Now that you have the ticket and unfortunately want to cancel the reserved tickets, sorry, this facility is not provided. Think before you make the reservations. No cancellation will be provided on the Internet. To cancel a ticket, you will have to submit the ticket at a PRS counter. The fare paid by the customer will be refunded electronically after deducting the cancellation charge. The PRS counter will issue a cancellation ticket / receipt and IRCTC will credit the amount of refund due, to the customer’s credit card.

We have discussed about the most important feature of www.irctc.co.in. There are some other facilities also that can prove to be helpful. You can get the train status, availability, fare and time schedule of any train between two stations. You can also check the status of your unconfirmed ticket by giving the PNR no. Furthermore, the site helps you to plan your travel in a systematic manner.

So, just login and enjoy the trip without losing your sweat by standing in the long queue.