RailEnquiry

PATNA: In a major decision to further improve the functioning of online railway ticket booking system, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) recently deactivated at least 44,000 multiple-user IDs to prevent unscrupulous travel agents from procuring general and 'Tatkal' tickets through the IRCTC e-ticketing portal.

According to a senior IRCTC official, IRCTC during its drive against unscrupulous agents across the country detected 44,000 multiple user IDs being used by vested interests to book tickets through the portal. A close examination of these IDs revealed they were used on a regular basis. "We deactivated the IDs in one stroke with a view to checking online ticket booking malpractices," he said.

According to an official, IRCTC has been operating e-ticketing website for the convenience of passengers at the national and international levels. It has about 1.35 lakh registered agents on its rolls. However, a few of these agents had opened multiple-user IDs using the same cellphone numbers and IDs, he said.

That apart, a team of IRCTC vigilance wing also detected five lakh such IDs created by individuals or agents to book or procure journey tickets through the IRCTC website. Further investigation revealed they were being used by unauthorized agents, an IRCTC official said.

Stung by frequent complaints from genuine passengers, IRCTC deactivated the multiple-user IDs of the agents and individuals to maintain transparency in the online ticket booking system. It was with this end in view that IRCTC has fixed the 'Tatkal' ticket booking time from 10am to 12 noon to allow free access to the site by genuine passengers, according to an IRCTC official.

According to sources, the new 'Taktal' ticket booking time was implemented from July 10, 2012. A close study of the online ticket booking revealed the number of bookings online has gone up to 74,000, including 46,000 'Tatkal' tickets, every day in the first two hours after July 10 across the country. Earlier, the total ticket booking was 63,000, including 43,000 'Tatkal' tickets, every day in the first two hours of booking, the sources said.

The IRCTC official said on an average 4.47 lakh e-tickets are booked per day against 3.6 lakh earlier. The rise in the online ticket bookings can be attributed to constant monitoring of the site by IRCTC officials concerned, he said and added the number of online ticket bookings had also increased in Bihar.
Source - times of india