New Delhi3 minutes ago
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Indian Railways has changed the rules of advance ticket booking. Earlier ticket booking used to start 120 days before the journey, now it has been reduced to 60 days. The new decision will come into effect from November 1, 2024. TOI has given this information in its report.
However, the new rules for advance train ticket booking will not have any impact on already booked tickets. Currently, ticket booking is done through IRCTC website, app and railway booking counters. Every day 12.38 lakh tickets are booked through IRCTC.
Railways had extended the advance reservation period in 2015.
As of April 1, 2015, the advance reservation period was 60 days. The government had then argued that extending the booking period to 120 days would discourage brokers as they would have to pay higher cancellation charges.
However, many had then argued that the Railways' objective in extending the reservation period was to earn additional revenue through higher number of cancellations along with interest for an additional 60 days.
IRCTC's earnings will reduce due to interest and cancellation.
Due to reduction in advance reservation period, IRCTC's earnings from interest and cancellation will reduce. Its effect is also visible on its stock. The company's shares are trading about 2% down at Rs 875. The stock has fallen 6% in a month.
There is also a plan to eliminate the waiting list of Railways
- IRCTC has recently made several changes, including plans to eliminate the long-standing problem of waiting lists in trains within the next five to six years, to ensure that every passenger gets a Got confirmed berths.
- There are also plans to launch a Railway Super App, which will have services ranging from passenger ticket booking to journey planning. Revel also plans to install AI enabled cameras. With this, along with monitoring food quality, train occupancy will also be optimized.
IRCTC joined Indian Railways in 1999.
Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is a 'Mini Ratna (Category-I)' Central Public Sector Enterprise under the Ministry of Railways, Government of India. IRCTC was incorporated as a branch of Indian Railways on 27 September 1999.
Its objective is to manage catering and hospitality at stations, trains and other places. Along with this, domestic and international tourism is to be promoted through development of budget hotels, special tour packages, information and commercial publicity and global reservation system. The corporate office of IRCTC is located in New Delhi.
Core Activities of IRCTC
- Catering and Hospitality
- internet ticketing
- Travel and Tourism
- Packaged Drinking Water (Rail Neer)
