IRCTC News:Pos Machines prevent Overcharging to Passengers

IRCTC News:Pos Machines prevent Overcharging to Passengers

NEW DELHI: To prevent overcharging on trains for meals, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) on Monday advised all the Railway zones to ensure the availability of minimum 10 PoS (Point of Sale) machine in each Mail and Express trains under their jurisdiction with immediate effect. The IRCTC, in their statement, said all licensees must be immediately directed to deploy PoS machines and added that heavy fine would be imposed on those who would non-comply to the same.

Earlier in April, the IRCTC introduced PoS machines in three trains – the Aravali Express, the Telangana Express and the Sealdah Ajmer Express. A PoS machine is an electronic device used to process card payments and prevents overcharging by vendors in trains.

Bad publicity is hitting the IRCTC and the fact is not being appreciated by the Indian Railways authorities and remedial measures are set to be provided to passengers to make their journey easier to cut this down. In a bid to ensure bills for the purchase of food items is provided to passengers on trains, Indian Railways has issued certain must-follow instructions. Railways unit IRCTC has ordered all its zones to ensure at least 10 point of sale (POS) machines are deployed on each train under their jurisdiction.

IRCTC issued a letter where it said that “despite it being mandatory for the licensee to issue bills to passengers for food items through POS machines, the handheld electronic bill printing devices were not deployed in trains and cases of overcharging were continuously being received, resulting in bad publicity for the IRCTC”.

According to the letter, “the railway zones are hereby advised to ensure the provision and operation of minimum 10 POS machine in each mail/express trains under their jurisdiction with immediate effect. Licensee must be immediately directed to deploy these machines in all trains run by them.”

Inspections would be carried out in these zones to check whether the IRCTC directions are followed and has instructed them to send the report by June, reports PTI.

Now passengers can choose their meals from a pre-loaded menu and pay through credit or debit cards on 25 trains, Indian Railways had said earlier this month. This will keep ensure that the food are sold to the passengers at an exact price.

IRCTC has also announced the launch of an e-wallet service. Passengers can now book their tatkal tickets by the IRCTC Rail Connect app. They can also deposit money with IRCTC in advance and use the same at the time of booking tickets. This service will ensure that the ticket booking process gets faster.

Source:RailNews