Train travelling will become cheaper as the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) plans to reduce service charges for customers who make ticket payments using Unified Payments Service (UPI) or Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM) apps like Paytm, PhonePe or Google Pay.
A convenience fee of Rs 10 per ticket will be charged for non-AC passengers and for passengers travelling in AC (including first-class) will have to pay Rs 20. The new charges will soon be rolled out, according to IRCTC.
Presently, IRCTC charges a convenience fee of Rs 15 for each non-AC e-ticket and Rs 30 for every AC ticket if the payments are made through any of these mentioned mobile applications.
With the aim of promoting online payments in the country Indian Railways has recently launched a host of initiatives. It has announced a lucky draw scheme under which 1,000 lucky customers will receive Rs 500 as cash back if the payments are made using UPI or BHIM apps.
In August this year, the Railway authority gave its nod to restore the convenience charges after IRCTC witnessed a drop of 26 per cent in online ticketing revenue in the financial year 2016-17.
Customers are also entitled to get a 5% discount if paying through UPI/BHIM applications at railway reserved counters. Booking a ticket of rs.100 or above from the reserved counter at railway stations, passengers can get a maximum discount of rs.50. The offer is valid till June 12, 2020.
