IRCTC has revolutionized life of the common man travelling with the Indian Railways. IRCTC Online Ticket booking system is a boon to the common man, empowering him through technology. Launched in August, 2002, the Company had booked a mere 27 tickets on the first day of its commencement of Internet ticketing service in the country. From the first day 27 i-ticket bookings, the Company has reached to a record of 15.88 lakh e-tickets booked in a day on 21st March 2022. Now after more than 20 years of a sparkling journey, it has emerged as one of the largest e-commerce website in the country and Asia Pacific. The e-Ticketing System was replaced with Next Generation E-Ticketing (NGeT) System from 28- Apr-2014 and the capacity of per minute ticket booking was increased progressively. The NGeT system is supported by high capacity servers which has got a capacity to book more than 26,000 tickets per minute. It had witnessed a record booking of 28,434 tickets in a minute on 12-November-2022 (at 11.02 min). IRCTC is pioneered in internet-based rail ticket booking through its Website www.irctc.co.in and IRCTC Rail Connect Mobile Apps (Android and iOS platform) which is accounted for 82.68% of the total reserved tickets booked on Indian Railways, in FY 2022-23. On an average, 12.38 lakh tickets were sold daily through IRCTC's Website and Mobile App during FY 2023-24. The site offers round the clock ticket booking services, except for a 35-minute break from 23.45 hrs to 00.20 hrs.

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New Initiatives Taken During 2023-24

1. Integrated Railway Helpline & Enquiry System IRHES-139:
   

   The Integrated Railway Helpline & Enquiry System (IRHES-139) is a comprehensive service that offers railway information and assistance to passengers facing any issues. IRCTC has upgraded the service with advance technological features. The system employs IVRS with Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR), powered by Natural Language Understanding (NLU) / Natural Language Processing (NLP), enabling passengers to interact naturally in their mother tongue and supported in 13 Languages - Hindi, English, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Bengali, Assamese, Punjabi, Oriya, and Urdu. This innovative approach incorporates APIs from PRS, NGeT, UTS, Rail Madad, NTES, and more, without utilizing railway space or incurring additional expenses. The infrastructure is cloud-based (MeitY empaneled) and adheres to ISO 27000 compliance standards for IT security compliance. This ensures scalability and an SLA-based approach, while boasting an impressive 85% automation rate. Approx. 2.5 Lakhs calls are being handled per day out of which 14-15 % calls are being handled by agents and rest by the AI based IVR system. Approx. 1 Lakh SMS are being handled every day. Approx. 6500 complaints are being registered on Railmadad every day through 139. Calls abandoned rate is approximately 1%.




New services added on IRCTC Website during FY 2023-2024

2. Passengers of Vande Bharat trains can now choose Tea / Coffee as option while booking tickets w.e.f. 25.07.2023
3. Promotion of "Swachhata hi Seva 2023" logo on Electronic Reservation Slip (ERS) started on 18th Sep 2023.
4. Automatic refund of difference of fare amount for the passengers impacted due to downgrade in class of travel from 3A to 3E started.
5. In Lucknow - New Delhi Tejas trains operated by IRCTC, facility to avail current booking from Kanpur till before 10 minutes of scheduled departure has been provided for the convenience of passengers w.e.f. 21st Sep 2023.
6. "Amazon Pay Wallet " made live on IRCTC Rail e-Ticketing website w.e.f. 02-Nov-2023.
7. Digital marketing campaign started with Bank of Baroda for Digital promotion and lead generation on 10-Oct-2023 and with HDFC Bank on 16-Nov-2023.
8. Passengers of Vande Bharat trains can select "Tea with snacks (Veg only)" for selected sectors while booking tickets w.e.f. 28.11.2023
9. The ticket booking experience during Tatkal hours has been significantly enhanced since 09-Dec-2023 leading to a remarkable increase in 20,000 plus bookings per minute.
10. Same day refund feature for Rail e-ticketing has been introduced for transactions whereas Amount deducted but ticket not booked, during the year.
11. In Vande Bharat trains, new SMS service has been implemented to confirmed passengers to book meal through link provided via SMS w.e.f. 17-01-2024. Besides, Functionality of sending menu of available meal plans through SMS, Confirmation of meal booking, Failed meal booking, Cancellation of Meal booking & Refund of Cancelled meal booking through SMS and Mails also implemented w.e.f. 21-02-2024.
12. Travel insurance: M/s Royal Sundaram General Insurance has been enrolled to provide travel insurance services to E-ticket Passengers. Insurance premium rate has also been revised from Rs 0.35 to 0.45 w.e.f. 17-02-2024.




New services added on IRCTC Rail Connect Mobile Apps during FY 2023-2024:

1. Syncing of Booking Status and Current Status across every applicable location in the iOS App. implemented on 07-Apr-2023.
2. Login through Biometric or pattern lock avoiding PIN and without CAPTCHA is started in iOS Mobile App w.e.f. 07-Apr-2023.
3. Integration of M/s Bajaj Finance Ltd is enabled on 05-May-2023, as EMI Payment Provider on RDS Model in Android Mobile App.
4. e-Wallet add/deposit money option added in Android Mobile App on 7-Jul-23.
5. Refund amount enquiry Button provided on cancellation page of Android Mobile App on 20-Jul-23.
6. All Station Search Requirement based of city name wise added in Android Mobile App on 20-Jul-23.
7. Display of state name alongside city name in station search list started in iOS Mobile App on 1-Aug-23.
8. Tea/Coffee option added in trains as catering service during booking process in Android Mobile App on 26-Jul-23 and on iOS Mobile App on 8-Aug-23.
9. Integration of Easebuzz as MPP and Razorpay UPI in UPI (exclusive) payment option on IRCTC Rail e-ticketing iOS Mobile Apps iOS enabled on 8-Aug-23.
10. Integration of Amazon Associates as Advertisement partners for Deals, Offers and Shopping Experience and as Bill Payment and Recharge partners is enabled and product made live on Android Mobile App on 14-Sep-23.
11. Display of Duty Pass quota availability has been started on Android Mobile App since 19-Oct-2023.
12. Integration of (Comprehensive Payment Solution) enhanced payment and refund flow implemented on IRCTC Rail Connect Mobile Apps w.e.f. 16-Nov-2023 due to which success rate of ticket booking and timely refund rate has been improved.
13. Infant Child berth booking option provided on IRCTC Rail Connect iOS Mobile App w.e.f. 22-Nov-2023.
14. Passengers travelling in Vande Bharat trains are being provided with option to select "Tea with snacks (Veg only)" for selected sectors at the time of booking on Mobile Apps (iOS & Android) since 20-Dec-2023.
15. In Vande Bharat trains passengers can book Meals post booking on Mobile Android Apps since 11-Jan-2024 & on Mobile iOS Apps since 22-Feb-2024.
16. Berth Preference check implemented for booking ticket on Mobile Android Apps since 11-Jan-2024 & on Mobile iOS Apps since 22-Feb-2024. System will apply validation of maximum number of choice of berths as per defined capacity of cabin in SL/AC coaches during booking i.e. maximum 2 nos. LB, 2 nos. MB, 2 nos. UB, 1 no. SL and 1 no. SU.
17. On Mobile Android App, SBIepay Multiple Payment Provider has been made live on 11-Jan-2024 & Bharatipay Multiple Payment Provider has been made live on 14-Feb-2024.
18. Ordering of food using e-Catering services in Mobile iOS Apps started w.e. f. 22-Feb-2024.




Miscellaneous initiatives during the Q4 of 2023-2024:

1. New Subsidiary Company of IRCTC "IRCTC PAYMENTS LIMITED" has been incorporated on 10-Feb-24 with Ministry of Corporate Affairs for its Payment Aggregator business.




Highlights of Internet Ticketing (2023-24)

1. IRCTC e-ticketing platform achieved 2nd highest per minute booking record of 26,672 on 01-March-2024 at 11:02 AM. And 3rd highest per minute booking record of 25,712 on 08-02-2024 at 10:01 AM.
2. IRCTC e-ticketing platform achieved highest hourly booking record of 1,85,513 during tatkal hours between 10 to 11 on 21-03-2024.
3. IRCTC e-ticketing platform achieved highest hourly booking record of 2,23,193 during tatkal hours between 11 to 12 on 22-03-2024.
4. Total number of tickets booked were 4529.83 Lakhs, which is 5.03% more than last year.
5. Total Train Ticket Fare for online e-ticketing during the year 2023-24 was Rs. 61736.71 crores.
6. Total 12.20 Crore Mobile App (on Android & iOS) Downloads till 31st March, 2024.
7. Mobile Bookings: The average Mobile App bookings during 2023-24 were 6.35 Lakh tickets per day, as compared to 5.60 Lakh tickets in 2022-23. 13.70% of IRCTC e-Tickets have been booked through IRCTC Rail Connect Mobile App during FY 2023-24.
8. Share of Reserved Rail tickets booked online was 82.68% in 2023-24, as compared to 80.99% of the reserved tickets booked online in 2022-23. There has been continuous increase in online booking share over the years.
   
9. Substantial and consistent revenue growth shown in ticket booking through AskDisha Chatbot FY 2023-2024, total tickets are 11.04 Lakhs (which is 91% higher in comparison to previous year) and Total Revenue Earned is Rs 162.21 Crores.

Advertisement/Marketing/Promotional Activities:

1. Push Notification Services on IRCTC Website and Mobile App: Through this facility 1748 crores Mobile App push notifications and 738 crores Website push notifications were send to users across India for IRCTC in-house products ranging from Bharat Gaurav Tourist trains, E-Catering, Chatbot Booking services to Ramayana Yatra, Bus bookings and many such more items.
2. Integration of Ad Network for additional Advertisement revenue: OPENx Ad Network was added to Google Ad Manager on 13-Oct-2023 for facilitating ad-on revenue to IRCTC.