E-ticketing chugs along well with railways

CHENNAI: E-ticketing, especially booking railway tickets online, is the fastest growing e-commerce category in India, a study revealed.

It said that railway ticketing in India is an example of self-service e-economy with the Internet being the domain of information, options, bookings and capacity-allocation.

The Internet and Online Association of India (IOAI) and Cross Tab Marketing Services jointly conducted the research. The target audience was visitors of e-commerce sites.

The findings specifically pointed out that the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has significantly benefited from e-ticketing, a press statement said.

The report states that 39 per cent of respondents have used the online ticketing service of railways. In the near future, 48 per cent of the respondents are likely to opt for e-ticket booking.

"E-ticketing is the fastest growing category and has become a reality in India reaching more than 139 towns and cities. Indians can now shop from anywhere at anytime through a very simplified process. Growing satisfaction levels and word of mouth publicity are the primary factors for its fast growing popularity,” said Preeti Desai, president, IOAI.

Amitabh Pandey, group general manager (IT Services), IRCTC said, "B2C e-commerce has become a commercially viable reality in the Indian business space today. E-commerce is the future and we are proud to be a significant part of it".

According to the study, Mumbai accounted for 25 per cent of the railway bookings, followed by Delhi (21%), Chennai (8%), Bangalore (7%), Ahmedabad (2%) and Kanpur (2%). Other cities and towns accounted for 31 per cent.