Use UPI to book rail tickets at reservation counters

Indian Railways has said that it will bring Unified Payments Interface (UPI) payment system at all its ticket reservation counters in the country from Friday to promote digital mode of payments.

The Railways has extended the facility for payment through UPI/BHIM on all the ticket counters. This facility to book e-tickets online has already been implemented on the IRCTC website. 

“We are going to roll out UPI-based payment system at all reservation counters across the country,” railway board member (traffic) Mohammad Jamshed said.

He said that over 97% of the tickets sold at reservation counters daily are through cash and only two-three per cent of transactions are through debit or credit cards.

“Now a passenger does not have to carry his credit/debit card, as they will be able to book it through BHIM app through a mobile phone,” Jamshed said, and added that the Railways is working to develop Bharat QR code option for booking tickets.

“Once it’s completed, passengers just need to scan the QR code to make payments,” he said.

Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM) app developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is based on the Unified Payment Interface (UPI). 

BHIM is inter-operable with other Unified Payment Interface (UPI) applications and bank accounts.