MUMBAI: Booking a ticket through the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) website is set to get easier and faster if the IRCTC's plans to set up a rolling deposit scheme
(RDS) work out. Pradeep Kundu, joint general manager, public relations,
IRCTC, said, "Under the scheme, a user can deposit money in advance
with the IRCTC and use RDS from the available payment options on the IRCTC website for paying for their tickets."
The IRCTC has proposed a one-time registration fee of around Rs 200-250
and a minimum deposit of around Rs 1,500-2,000 for the service. Users
can top up their RDS account balance by using any of the available
payment gateways and can also transfer money from their bank accounts to
their IRCTC accounts and book tickets
using that RDS account. The account can be managed and topped up
online. The IRCTC claims that the RDS account system will be more
efficient and advantageous as compared to transactions carried out
through payment gateways of banks.
Kundu said, "Currently, after a payment option is selected, customers
are redirected to the payment gateway, where they enter their card
details. Subsequently, they are redirected to either the Verified by
Visa or Master Secure service, where they have to enter their password
and validate the transaction. This entire process consumes a substantial
amount of transaction time.
"Very often, customers enter the wrong passwords and have to revalidate
the transaction. When the customer is finally redirected to the IRCTC
site, the session may have timed out and as a result the ticket would
not have been booked."
Kundu added, "Time can be saved by using an RDS account, as the entire
transaction is internal and there is no dependency on a third party
payment gateway."
On August 5, TOI had reported about the high number of failed
transactions while using the IRCTC website. The IRCTC had claimed that
this happens due to reasons like wrong password, wrong card expiry date
fed by the customer, expired card, insufficient funds in the customer's
account, technical problem at the bank's end etc., over which it has no
control.
Kundu said, "The RDS mode of transaction system is faster, safer and
easier. Users will not only save on payment gateway charges, but will
also save precious booking time by eliminating payment approval cycle."
Under the RDS system, the user's dependency on banks is reduced. Even if
banks go offline, IRCTC users can book tickets using their RDS account.
Key features of Rolling deposit scheme
User authentication: Users of the rolling deposit scheme (RDS) will be
verified and authenticated through online PAN card number verification
Secure access: Users will have to provide transaction passwords/ PIN numbers for every booking done through RDS
Complete history: Users will be able to check RDS transaction/payment
history. They can also change the transaction password as and when
required
Easy refund: In case of ticket cancellation, the refund will be credited to the user's RDS account the next day
Source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com, August 30, 201
