The IRCTC said that it has provided a simple user-guided menu to book tickets, search stations and check the availability of berths.”A dedicated telephone number will soon be provided to carry out the transactions,”
For the SMS-based ticket service, customers need to register with their banks to generate Mobile Money Identifier (MMID), a seven-digit random number. For the menu-based USSD system, there is no need to register with the bank and payment can be authorized through a mobile wallet.
Six berths or seats can be booked in a single transaction through the new systems.SMS charge for booking will be Rs 3. Apart from this there will be gateway charge of Rs 5 upto ticket of Rs 5000 and for ticket above Rs 5000 there will be charge for Rs 10
Procedure for Booking
1. SMS-based booking
* Registered IRCTC users can use this service. You also need to register your mobile number with IRCTC as well as your bank, which provides Mobile Money Identifier (MMID) and one-time password (OTP)
* Send SMS to designated number in following format: BOOK
* You receive a transaction ID
* Make payment with an SMS to designated number in the following format
PAY
2) USSD (menu-based dialling)
* Dial designated number, select ‘book tickets’ option, select ‘reservation’ (user is prompted to enter his IRCTC user ID once only), enter details (station, train no., date, etc)
* Enter mPIN for authorizing payment through mobile wallet
* Booking confirmation SMS is sent by IRCTC