Keeping its promise of getting more techno-savvy in the year's annual budget, Indian Railways will soon bring SMS-based ticketing service. Starting from 1st July, passengers will be able to book rail tickets from the comfort of their mobile phones, and no, you don’t need to print them out either.
A report on India Today says that a dedicated number for enabling the facility will be made public soon. The passenger will have to register his mobile number with IRCTC and one of its partner banks. The bank will then send a MMID (Mobile Money Identifier) and OTP (one time password) for payment authorisation. The booking details to be provided include train number, destination, journey date, and class, apart from passenger details, which includes name, age, and gender all via text messages. Once you receive the transaction ID, you will have to pay for the ticket, followed by another SMS that reads PAY, along with the transaction ID, MMID, and the password, to complete the booking process.
The service will be available to all users irrespective of the kind of cellphones they use. SMSes and payment gateway charges have been set at Rs 5 for bookings up to Rs 5000 and Rs 10 for anything above that. Additionaly SMSes to the service will cost you Rs 3 per message.
