IRCTC Share Price NSE, BSE: IRCTC shares witnessed a heavy sell-off on Monday. IRCTC share price opened deep in red and went on to hit an intraday low of Rs 666 apiece levels on the NSE, clocking more than 7 per cent dip. At the closing, the stock crashed around 4 per cent to settle at Rs 691.10 apiece on the NSE. The decline in IRCTC share price was mainly due to the state-owned Indian Railways' PSU decision on its monetisation plan.

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IRCTC had earlier this month floated an e-tender for the appointment of a consultant for digital data monetisation. IRCTC is a reservoir of a huge amount of digital data. But the company's plan to monetise customers' data hit a roadblock as it faced a barrage of criticism from several quarters over security concerns.

The company later announced to withdraw the tender for appointing a consultant for the data monetisation plan. IRCTC, through the monetisation of its digital assets, had planned to generate Rs 1,000 crore in revenue. 

After the company announced its plan to monetise digital data on August 18, IRCTC share price gained almost 10 pe cent from Rs 671.65 (August 17 closing) to Rs 735.15 on August 22. However, IRCTC share price crashed on Monday as it finished below Rs 700 first time since August 18.

Reacting to IRCTC's decision, Zee Business Anil Singhvi said that the company should maintain transparency so that matters reach a concrete level. "It is not about Rs 1,000 crore... the issue is with the company's policy decision, in which direction it is going.. what is your process? What is your process, when questions are being raised on the company's process time and again..." he said.

"I believe that IRCTC is a big e-commerce company but I do not recommend it in Special 25. Its business will stay for 25 years, 100%, but it is prone to shocks," Anil Singhvi added.

He suggested that IRCTC, the Ministry of Railways should "carefully and thoughtfully take decisions... should understand that market doesn't like such things". He suggested that it would have been better if the company had decided "not to speak anything" (about its monetisation decision rollback).

Singhvi though said that the hints were doing the rounds last week that the monetisation decision will be put on hold, the matter is not just about that but about the clarity which the government companies have to maintain. This is among the reasons why government companies don't get valuations.

IRCTC has more than 10 crore users. The company provides ticketing, catering and tourism services for the Indian Railways. Approximately 80 per cent of the total ticketing is done through IRCTC.