The first thing that comes to mind when people think of IRCTC is,
The site always sucks.
I never get a chance to book a confirmed tatkal ticket.
But if you really think about it, IRCTC was never that bad. Take a look at these facts taken from online site Quora:
At present, IRCTC has 2.5 crore registered members and its revenue is 35 percent of what Indian Railways generates.
At its peak hours, i.e. in the morning, the site records around 80,000 transactions.
They are the biggest e-commerce site in the country, having about 2x the net sales of Flipkart. The sort of demand they see in the peak tatkal booking hours is way higher than what Flipkart can handle. A little patience seems understandable.
One out of five online users in India visits the Indian Railways site. Even on a record-breaking day, Amazon only sold 1.35 crore items worldwide, whereas Indian Railways sells more than 2.1 crore tickets on any average day. Of these, IRCTC books around 25 crore tickets per annum.
The problem is not just the insufficiently responsive ticketing interface, but the huge demand-supply ratio. Even if the whole process was totally seamless, IRCTC would have only ensured that the first two crore or so people got their tickets every day, but 3 times as many people will still be left without a reservation. So next time you are unable to book a tatkal ticket don’t blame IRCTC, you might just be 3 of those 4 people who missed the ticket.
Getting Better
Now that we have established that IRCTC is not that bad, the issue lies with the humongous user inflow it has every day. IRCTC has not just come up with new and better ways to cater to its users, but taken the possibilities to a whole new dimension.
1. Upgraded the Website
In June 2014, IRCTC upgraded its website, making it user friendly and adding 8 more servers to increase the speed.
2. IRCTC Connect - Mobile App
IRCTC Connect is available for both Android and iOS. Just download the app and book your tickets from your mobile phone. The android app has already seen more that 50 lakh downloads with an average rating of 4 stars.
3. Payment Partners
Its recent tie-ups with Mobikwik to offer payment option to book tickets and Paytm for e-catering payments has been a tremendous boost. Now you can simply make payments with your e-wallet anytime. Easy enough?
4. Shopping on IRCTC
To tap the 2 crore user database and about 5-6 lakh active users everyday, IRCTC has tied up non other than Amazon! You can order products on the website and get them delivered in the train.
5. What’s more you ask?
- Want deals on your train ticket? IRCTC has tied up with Mydala.
- Want new fresh pillows, sheets and blankets? Book bedrolls online.
- Go Green? IRCTC plans to SMS new tickets as railway goes paperless.
- Need help? IRCTC is also active on social media.
IRCTC was incorporated on 2 September 1999 and the full-fledged operations started on 3 August 2002. On the first day of its commencement of e- ticketing service in the country, it booked merely 27 tickets. Now it books more that 4 lakh tickets everyday on average. Its revenue increased from 27.16 crores in 2002 to 500 crores now.
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