Booking tickets from IRCTC will be expensive from September 1; Here's why

Indian Railway's online ticket booking service will become expensive from September 1, 2019, as it has decided to restore the service charges on e-tickets from its online ticket booking portal IRCTC. Earlier this service charge was abolished to encourage online payment, but this had impacted the earnings of IRCTC.

Earlier on August 30, the Railway Ministry has allowed IRCTC to levy service charges on online ticket booking through a letter, allowed it to collect the charges. Notably, after withdrawal of the service charge, IRCTC's earning from internet ticketing witnessed a 26 percent drop. Now, the IRCTC will levy service charge ranging from Rs 15 to Rs 30 from e-ticket bookings.

A senior Railway Ministry official told IANS that Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) will restore the service charges on the tickets booked from its platform. He further added that the railways which earlier used to levy Rs 20 for tickets for non air-conditioned coaches and Rs 40 for tickets for air-conditioned coaches as service charges, will now charge Rs 15 and Rs 30 for the non-AC and AC coaches` tickets respectively. The Goods and Services Tax (GST) will be applicable separately on each ticket, the report said.

In late 2016, the service charges were withdrawn after demonetisation to promote digital payments. 

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According to the railways, the share of e-tickets in the total reservation tickets issued daily is about 55 to 60 percent. In the year 2016, e-tickets were 35 to 40 percent of the total tickets issued in a day. Railway issues around 11 to 12 lakh tickets in the country every day.