For several users who wanted to book tickets online using IRCTC’s website, may that be during regular hours or peak hours, is hard enough because of the payment options, where they can pay only using debit/credit cards, or the Internet banking option. The new app for Android, iOS, Windows Phone and Blackberry is going to change things a bit.
Though a pilot program, the Cash-on-delivery option is going to be available for users booking a rail ticket using the BookMyTrain app on their smartphone. According to Anduril Technologies Pvt Ltd., the company that launched this app, about 200 cities are covered in the initial pilot project and in August, this service will be expanded to 700 cities. The tickets that are purchased with the COD option will be delivered within a few hours.
The app allows logging in using the IRCTC credentials of the user, and the booking system as well as the train listings are similar to how they are on IRCTC’s website. The best part is with the payment options, and the addition of delivery address which can be saved and used later whenever a booking is done, and needed to be checked out regularly.
Passenger details can also be saved, so that it is easy to select those passengers for a frequent traveler. A list of six passengers can be made and saved for future use.
Are there any rules? There are a couple to remember – first is that you can opt for COD payment if the date of departure is not within the next five days, and second that there is a delivery charge for the ticket delivery, Rs. 40+ service tax for sleeper, and Rs. 60 for AC class.
How does one get refund for a cancelled ticket? For that, the COD option won’t work, and you will have to add a bank account number in the account details, and the refund will be done to that account.
There is an IRCTC mobile app already available with almost similar features, but the addition of COD (where the app company might be handling the delivery of tickets) is a big plus for those who prefer to have offline payments to reduce hassles. The BookMyTrain app is available for all the four major smartphone platforms – Android, iOS, Windows Phone and BlackberrymyTrain App.
