Vodafone M-Pesa ties up with Indian Railways for Ticket Booking

Vodafone M-Pesa ties up with Indian Railways for Ticket Booking

Mumbai: Vodafone entered into a strategic partnership today with Bharat BPO, an arm of the Railways, to provide an integrated train enquiry service as well as enable online booking of railway tickets through its mobile money transfer and payment service Vodafone M-Pesa.

Vodafone M-Pesa’s tie up with Bharat BPO would enable safe, secure and convenient ticketing transactions through mobile phones, it was officially announced here today.

Vodafone M-Pesa, a unique mobile money transfer and payment service has tied up with Bharat BPO (BBPO) to enable this safe, secure and convenient ticketing transaction through the mobile phone. The introduction of this service application will put an end to the long wait in queues at railway booking counters providing convenience to customers as they can now book e-tickets on the go anytime, from anywhere.

“This partnership will help open up and extend the convenience and efficiency of e-commerce and online services to those unbanked millions who use cash and are otherwise excluded from this eco-system. This new app based offering empowers our customers to book railway e-tickets, seek PNR status, cancel tickets, get refunds, all at their own convenience, through their mobile handset. We are extending a highly safe and secure technology platform that works even for customers who do not have an Internet connection,” said Vodafone M-Pesa head Suresh Sethi in a statement.

“This new app-based offering empowers our customers to book rail e-tickets, seek PNR status, cancel tickets, get refunds, all at their own convenience, through their mobile handsets. We are extending a highly safe and secure technology platform which works even for customers who do not have an Internet connection,” Sethi said.

Customers will have to download the extremely user friendly mobile application “139 Railways Reservation” only once, post which it does not require any data connection for registration or booking of tickets. Vodafone users could download the application by sending an SMS ‘Ticket’ to 111. Once accessed, the app prompts users with interactive and guided menu options to book tickets. M-Pesa customers could send in their booking details through the ’139 Railways Reservation’ app and only have to enter their M-PIN to authorise transactions. Additionally, information on partial or full cancellation, PNR status, could also be accessed through mobile applications.  Vodafone customers can download the application by sending an SMS “TICKET” to 111. Once accessed, the app prompts users with interactive and guided menu options towards booking tickets.

In case of cancellations, relevant refunds would be credited to customers’ M-Pesa wallets. The SMS-based booking on 139 is available for all feature phone customers.

“This innovative offering would make railway e-ticket booking easy for customers since they can book tickets from anywhere,” Bharat BPO Services chief executive Jatinder Verma said.

Commenting on the partnership, IRCTC Director (Marketing and Tourism) Mrs. Amritbir Kaur Brar said, “We are delighted that Vodafone M-Pesa has partnered Bharat BPO to facilitate railway e-ticket bookings on the go. We are confident that this association will play a transformational role in both, providing a never before holistic service proposition even for the unbanked sections of society and simultaneously be a lifestyle enhancer since it does away with waiting in queues at railway stations to book tickets.”

The SMS based booking on 139 is available for all feature phone customers. The application is also compatible with Android and J2ME handsets.

Who Will Benefit?

This service is targeted at people who do not have access to internet and don’t have bank accounts. It will help millions of Vodafone customers who are unable to book Railway tickets on their own due to lack of bank accounts. Through this new service, Vodafone customers can not only book railway e-tickets but also seek PNR status, cancel tickets, get refunds, all at their own convenience, through their basic mobile handsets.

Bharti Airtel already has a similar offering which enables their customers book Railway Tickets through their mobile phones without need of Internet.