The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Pre-paid cards to book rail ticket

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Feb 16, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Pre-paid cards to book rail ticket

By Our Staff Reporter

HYDERABAD, FEB. 15. And now pre-paid cards for railway journeys. The marketing arm of the Indian Railways, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), has tied up with a Mumbai-based Essel group company's Itz Cash cards to enable online booking of tickets by using pre-paid cash cards.

Though more than four lakh railway tickets are booked everyday, only a miniscule chunk of that - 4,000 in all - go for online booking despite the availability of the facility in as many as 130 cities in the country. The usage of online booking is confined to metros like Mumbai and Delhi and almost nonexistent in smaller towns.

"It's risk-free"

"Even in big cities, many who have credit or debit cards are apprehensive about using them for online railway ticketing transactions. But the pre-paid cash cards available in various denominations, eliminate all risks and will be handy even for people from small towns," the IRCTC Chief Regional Manager, South Central Railway, Laxmi Narayan, and Head, Sales and Marketing, Itz Cards, Gurpreet Bakshi, maintained at a press conference on Tuesday.

Saying that a large number of users do not own or use credit cards, be it in smaller towns or the economically disadvantaged in the urban areas who lack formal banking relationships to book online, the pre-paid card system would not only ensure expansion of customer base in the rural, semi urban and urban areas, but also end the travails of people braving long queues for booking their tickets. "They can finish the job from home, office or a neighbourhood cyber café."

The Itz card is a multi purpose one that could also be used for shopping online, buying Internet packages and playing online games.

The pre-paid cash cards in denominations of Rs. 100, Rs. 250, Rs. 500, Rs. 1,000, Rs. 1,500, Rs. 5,000, Rs. 7,500 and Rs. 10,000 are available through 88 Asian Sky Shop franchisee networks, 45,000 Playwin retailers, 5,500 Dish TV outlets and Indiatimes shopping portal.

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