The chairman of the Railway Board was told during a meeting that giving discounts to commuters using mobile ticketing would increase its popularity
Mumbai : In order to improve the sales of paperless mobile ticketing, officials from Central Railway (CR) and Western Railway (WR) have asked the Chairman of Railway Board (CRB) to forego the surcharge levied on mobile ticketing users and, instead, give them a discount.
The request to waive off the surcharge of Rs 10 and, further, to give discounts was put forth during the three-hour-long meeting that was held by CRB CRB AK Mittal during his day-long visit to the city on Friday.
During the meeting, Mittal asked the WR officials about the performance of paperless mobile ticketing, which was inaugurated by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu himself.
A senior railway official said, “We informed him that mobile ticketing has gone up to 800 tickets each day from the earlier figure of 500 per day. We also asked him to waive off the surcharge and give discounts that will help it gain popularity amongst commuters.”
According to railway officials, a commuter using an ATVM is given a 5 per cent discount, while a commuter opting for mobile ticketing is levied with surcharge and service tax. This additional surcharge is applicable to those commuters who recharge their e-wallets using mobile ticketing on each and every recharge.
The CRB has asked the railway officials to write a joint letter asking for the surcharge to be waived off once paperless mobile ticketing is also commissioned on CR. The board will then consider the request and act accordingly, assured Mittal. At present, CRIS, which is the IT arm of the railways, is conducting the test trials for the implementation of ticketing on CR, which is much more complex and heavily dense as compared to WR.
During the meeting, Mittal also asked the railway officials to expedite the work on raising the height of platforms and complete it by May 2016. He further suggested both the railways to put up fencing between the railway tracks to avoid deaths due to trespassing.
iram siddique
