IRCTC has announced that SMS-based ticket booking on July 1st. IRCTC would also launch the USSD (Unstructured supplementary data) based booking soon. The designated number for booking would be unveiled later. For the SMS-based ticket service, customers need to register with their banks (26 banks are supported) to generate a Mobile Money Identifier (MMID) and a one-time password (OTP). For the menu-based USSD system, the payment can be authorized through a mobile wallet which requires mPIN. 6 tickets can be booked in a single transaction similar to the online booking.
The SMS registration is a two-SMS process that costs Rs. 3 per SMS, reports The Hindu. It adds that the revenue for the mobile service providers come from these SMS and no other extra charge will be deducted. Banks will charge payment gateway at Rs. 5 for any transaction below Rs. 5,000 and Rs. 10 for an amount that exceeds it.
A confirmation SMS would be sent after the successful transaction. IRTC has mobile website irctc.co.in/mobile that would let you book tickets from internet-enabled phones. The SMS booking facility would definitely be great advantage for the passengers since everything can be carried out on a basic phone.
Via: TOI