Title - IRCTC discontinues sale of i-Ticket

No more sale of i-tickets on IRCTC website. In a move that is meant to seen as green, IRCTC has discontinued i-tickets that allows passengers to book paper tickets online.

In 2002, IRCTC launched i-ticket facility on its website; tickets same as counter paper tickets. These tickets were delivered to the passenger through post on given address with an additional cost of Rs 120 for AC class ticket and Rs 80 for Sleeper Class ticket. Any passenger can book an i-ticket three days in advance from the date of journey while from cities like Mangaluru, Madurai, Coimbatore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Mysuru a passenger can book i-ticket prior to two days of journey.

In 2011, IRCTC made SMSes received after booking ticket valid. However these SMSes must contain PNR number and the passenger is required to present and ID proof to TTE. Once SMSes are made valid, an i-ticket lost its relevance as I-Ticket service was offered mainly for the benefit of passengers who could not take the print out. especially in remote areas.