IRCTC online bus ticket booking: Anil Singhvi says Railways ticketing arm now thinking like private players

After Railway and flight tickets, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) will now allow booking of bus tickets from its online platform too, revealed Zee Business Managing Editor Anil Singhvi on Monday.  

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Talking about this IRCTC new initiative, Senior Research Analyst at Zee Business Varun Dubey told Zee Business Managing Editor that IRCTC has started this facility from January 29 itself.

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"This option is not visible on the IRCTC app currently, however, the ticketing arms of the Indian Railways will make this facility available on app in March for bus commuters."

Dubey said IRCTC has signed contract with approximately 50,000 government buses and some private bus operators in 22 districts and 3 Union territories.

"IRCTC generates 27 per cent revenue from railway tickets booking and it contributes 66 per cent in working profit. This segment is big for the company because organised bus ticket booking market in India is around 750 crore, of which 60 to 70 per cent market share is with Red Bus. The growth in the industry as per Red Bus is 40 per cent. Now, even if IRCTC captures 5 per cent of the market share of organised bus ticket booking, it could dent a well-established business like Red Bus. It is expected to do much better than it though."

Talking about it, the Market Guru said there is an additional comfort when you book tickets or do anything from a government company. "The most important thing about IRCTC is that the company's thought process is like private players. This also says a lot about the attitude of IRCTC as when a private company can compete with a government-owned entity, why public sector can't do the same," he said.