IRCTC to launch e-wallet soon

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) will be soon launching a host of initiatives, including passenger insurance, unreserved ticketing, and an e-wallet in a renewed form to make passengers’ travel experience smooth and hassle proof.

"We are going to start passenger insurance soon and have already issued a letter of award. We have short-listed three companies. The insurance would cost less than Rs. 2 per trip for a sum insured of Rs. 10 lakh," Arun Kumar Manocha, Chairman and Managing director of IRCTC, said in Mumbai.

The public-sector undertaking of the Railways, which handles catering, tourism, and Internet ticketing activities, has also partnered with the State Bank of India to enable digital payments through the SBI's mobile wallet Buddy.

IRCTC is also working to explore other areas of railway ticketing activities, Manocha said."We are planning to enter unreserved ticketing system; it would be available in a few months time."

Manocha said his company is not only improving its Android app to make refund process of e-ticket cancellation simpler but also working with several institutions, including Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysore, and Institute of Hotel Management, Catering & Nutrition, Pusa just to provide upgraded services to passengers.

Importantly, IRCTC is planning to launch its own e-wallet in a renewed form around Dussehra or Diwali.

"The failure of card payment is only 2-3 percent because of the pathway issues. We are hoping to launch e-wallet in the renewed form. It will be made free for the first three months. Currently, it is linked to the PAN card and it will also be linked to the Aadhaar card soon."