Railways to start ticket booking via SMS from July 1, 2013 Indian Railways is going to start an SMS-based ticket booking service from July 1, 2013, which will allow commuters to book ticket by just sending an SMS or through option-based service. Both the services could be used on smartphones and feature phones to enable a wide range of people get the benefit of the service. The two systems developed by the Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation Ltd (IRCTC) are aimed at the large number of mobile phone users in the country. In the menu-based dialing service, a system called unstructured supplementary data is used where one has to dial the numbers on the menu offered. Payment is made through mobile wallet. "The bookings can be made from anywhere and at any time in a secure manner. There is no need to log onto the internet or stand in a queue. Any mobile user can operate this system using handsets ranging from feature phones to smartphones," a senior IRCTC official said. In the SMS-based ticket system, the commuter would have to register himself with his bank if he wants to avail the service. This provision was made so that any other person does not use the number to carry out transaction. After registering with the bank, the consumer would get a pin, which would be sent with the SMS for transaction.
Posted on: Mon, 17 Jun 2013 03:48:53 +0000