IRCTC launches CoD payment facility for online railway ticket bookings, what's on offer?

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), a subsidiary of the government controlled Indian Railways that handles the catering, tourism and online ticketing operations, has launched a cash-on-delivery (CoD) payment facility for online railway ticket bookings.

Targeted at travellers who are hesitant to make use of payments options like credit card, debit card, or net banking, the new facility will enable travellers to book railway tickets online and pay for them when the tickets are delivered at their home.

To provide the CoD facility, IRCTC has partnered with Noida-based Anduril technologies Pvt Ltd, which will offer the facility through its website Bookmytrain.com and mobile app. To begin with, this facility is available in 200 cities/towns across the country.

And while online booking is possible up to 60 days before the planned date of travel, on the day booking opens (60 days before scheduled travel), you will not be able to book tickets between 8-12 AM on Bookmytrain.com.

How it works?

Existing IRCTC users can sign up for the service on Bookmytrain.com after two-step verification process, which involves them entering codes that are sent on their registered e-mail ids and mobile numbers.

Once logged-in, travellers can select and book tickets in the usual manner. However, while making payments, in addition to the electronic payment option, they are also given a choice to select CoD. Note that CoD is allowed five days prior to the travel.

The details of your booking will be available in the 'Booking History' section on Bookmytrain.com. You can also login at any time and print your copy, even if you lose one and need another.

According to the company, the CoD charges for tickets are same as IRCTC I-ticket charges. IRCTC currently charges a service charge of Rs 40 plus service tax per ticket in case of Second Class and Sleeper Class tickets and Rs 60 plus service tax per ticket in case of tickets of other classes.

Apart from booking tickets, travellers can also view their booking history and passenger lists on the website. They can also file TDR or check the refund status for cancelled tickets.

Last August, Ministry of Railways had launched the next generation e-ticketing system, enhancing the booking capacity to 7,200 tickets per minute against 2000 tickets in the old system. Developed by Centre for Railway information Systems (CRIS) with an estimated cost of Rs 180 crore, the new system enabled 1,20,000 concurrent users to book e-tickets simultaneously.