Kerala - Kochi   

Akshaya centres show interest in e-ticketing

KOCHI: About 85 per cent of the 200-odd Akshaya centres in Ernakulam have expressed interest in providing the e-ticket facility, which is already being offered by 27 Akshaya centres in Malappuram.

The Kerala State Information Technology Mission (KSITM) is planning to extend its reach all over the State by offering e-tickets through Akshaya centres in all the districts. “We are going ahead with the project and will introduce it in the remaining districts this year itself,” Ajay Kumar, Secretary (IT), Government of Kerala, told The Hindu.

However, introduction of the service in six districts – Alappuzha, Kottayam, Idukki, Wayanad, Thiruvananthapuram and Palakkad - where the first phase of Akshaya was launched only recently might get delayed.

KSITM has asked the district Akshaya project offices to submit a list of entrepreneurs interested in the service. Mr. Kumar said that the service has evoked good response in Malappuram, where it was introduced a year ago. “We have already sought permission for introducing the service in 26 more centres,” Akshaya sources in Malappuram said.

To provide the service, the entrepreneurs will have to apply for a digital signature from the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC). After verification, each entrepreneur will be assigned a user id and password. SafeScrypt, one of the authorised agencies, will train the entrepreneurs. Though tickets could be reserved through the web site of IRCTC individually, bulk reservation is not possible without digital signature, sources said.

Since KSITM had already entered into an agreement with IRCTC for launching the e-ticket service in Malappuram, no fresh agreement is needed for extending it to other districts, it is learnt.

IRCTC charged only between Rs.950 and Rs.1,000 for allotting digital signatures to Akshaya entrepreneurs in Malappuram instead of the Rs.2,400 it usually charge for a single digital signature, sources said. Going by the experience in Malappuram, reserving tickets through Akshaya centres would cost an additional Rs.40. This includes IRCTC service fee of Rs.15, bank charge of Rs.10 and another Rs.15 as service fee of entrepreneurs. It is, however, pointed out that IRCTC could afford to forego the service fee of Rs.15. The service might not be that attractive to those with easy access to reservation counters and the computer literate capable of doing online reservation on their own.

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