Digitisation On 'Express' Mode: 15 Stations Of Central Railway Goes Cashless

New Delhi: The Indian Railways, which has over 8 billion passenger traffic every year, already has moved 68 percent of passenger business transactions (ticket reservation), to cashless modes. During the period from April to December 2016, approximately 59% of total reserved tickets and 99% of freight business were booked through cashless modes. To further accelerate the surge in digital transactions, Indian Railways has already taken several steps, including a discount of 0.5 percent on monthly or seasonal tickets which are booked online, free accidental insurance cover worth Rs 10 lakh for buying railway tickets online, 5 percent discount on services such as catering and retiring rooms. Following mission Cashless India, Central Railway, for instance, has come forward and started digital transaction facility at 15 stations in five divisions, said a senior official.
 Central Railway has enabled 100 per cent digital transactions at these stations for now:

1. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, Lokmanya Tilak Terminus and Thane station in Mumbai division
2. Pune, Miraj and Shri Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj Terminus (Kolhapur) on Pune division
3. Solapur, Kopargaon and Sainagar Shirdi on Solapur division
4. Bhusaval, Amravati and Nasik Road on Bhusaval division
5. Nagpur, Ballarshah and Wardha on Nagpur division

"All Passenger Reservation Systems (PRS), Unreserved Ticketing System (UTS), luggage, parcel, goods shed counters and departmental catering units in the stations have been provided with POS (Point of Sales) machines to enable digital transactions," said Sunil Udasi, Chief PRO, Central Railway.

Also Read: Digital Payments: Services That Do Not Need Cash Anymore
 
Mr Udasi also mentioned that private contractors have also been instructed to avail facilities like BHIM and Paytm to enable digital transactions. The passengers will be asked to make online payments for buying food items at catering stalls. Excluding the porter and coolie services, water dispensing machines and paid urinals, every other facility at the designated stations will go cashless.
 
Further speaking about this initiative, Mr Udasi stated that Sainagar Shirdi station of Solapur division has the distinction of being the first station on Central Railway to enable 100 per cent cashless transaction. And this facility of cashless transaction will also be extended to other stations very soon, he added.

Also Read: Cashless Facility For Commuters Starts At Lal Quila Metro Station
 
Apart from this, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has also made strides to encourage digital payments. Its own website allows users to use credit cards, debit cards and net banking for payments and it has tied up with popular mobile wallets like Paytm, MobiKwik and FreeCharge. And to further digitise its operations, IRCTC recently launched an e-catering service and mobile app named 'Food on Track', which allows rail passengers to book meals of their choice from the list of popular food service vendors empanelled with IRCTC.

Also Read: Pay For A Ride On Delhi Metro Through Smart Card Enabled Watches
 
"A major benefit of this service is that the passengers can make payments for their meal orders online and they do not have to carry loads of hard cash. They can make payments through their credit/debit cards as well as e-wallets," said Sandip Dutta, Public Relation Officer, IRCTC.
 
"The online meal booking is also available through Android and iOS-based applications that can be downloaded on any smart phone. Currently, 250 stations out of 408 A1 & A category stations offer this facility," Mr Dutta further added.
 
Embracing the government's digitisation push, Indian Railways has tied up with State Bank of India (SBI) for this exercise, which has also stepped up its efforts for installing Point of Sales (PoS) machines. To encourage commuters to use digital methods of payment instead of cash, a total of 10,000 PoS machines will be installed by SBI at various locations of Indian Railways. As per Ministry of Railways, more than 4,100 PoS machines have already been installed across the 16 railway zones.

Also Read: Instead Of Waiting In Long Queues, Recharge Your Delhi Metro Card Using Mobile Banking Applications 

With inputs from PTI