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Introduction Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is a subsidiary of the Indian Railways that handles the

catering, tourism and online ticketing operations of the railways. Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd. has been set up by the Ministry of Railways with the basic purpose of hiving off entire catering and tourism activity of the railways to the new Corporation so as to professionalize and upgrade these services with public-private participation. Rail based tourism in India will be the specific vehicle for achieving high growth in coordination with state agencies, tour operators, travel agents and the hospitality industry. A dynamic marketing strategy in association with public and private agencies, tour operators, transporters, hoteliers and local tour promoters is on the anvil. Indian Railways span global volumes in hospitality and catering sectors with services provided to 13 million passengers everyday.

Roles and Responsibilities 1. Catering As per new Railway Catering Policy 2010, catering services provided by IRCTC were handed over to INDIAN Railways. Now IRCTC is in charge of catering services on few trains such as All Duranto Exp, Frakkha Exp, Maitree Express (Train between INDIA and BANGLADESH),Kandhari Exp and some Rajdhani Exp rest all of train operated by Zonal Railways railway stations across India.IRCTC also started NRC project (NON RAILWAY CATERING) under which cafeteria were operated in many Indian Ministries and Institutes.

2. Online ticketing It pioneered Internet-based rail ticket booking through its website, as well as from the mobile phones via GPRS or SMS. Ticket cancellations or modifications can also be done online. In addition to E-tickets, IRCTC also offers I-tickets that are basically like regular tickets except that they are booked online and delivered by post. The Tickets PNR Status is also made available here recently. Commuters on Mumbai's suburban railway can also book season tickets through the IRCTC website. IRCTC has also recently launched a loyalty program called 'Shubh Yatra' for frequent travellers. Through this program, passengers can avail of discounts on all tickets booked round the year by paying an upfront annual fee.

IRCTC has also launched flights and hotels booking facilities which added to their line of online reservation services. Seeking to make it easier to book e-tickets, IRCTC has decided to launch a scheme called Rolling Deposit Scheme (RDS) a hassle-free e-ticket booking scheme allowing passengers to reserve seats against advance money kept with the corporation.[ IRCTC is currently using 58 iridium servers and 10 more servers to be added soon to cater the heavy traffic in peak hours[

3. Tourism IRCTC also organizes budget and deluxe package tours for domestic and foreign tourists. A popular tourism package for budget tourists covering important tourist destination across India is Bharat Darshan. Luxury tourism packages are also available, that involve special luxury trains such as Palace on Wheels, Royal Orient Express, Golden Chariot, Deccan Odyssey, Royal Rajasthan on Wheels, Buddhist Circuit Train etc and IRCTC is a partner in the Maharajas Express operation.[7] One may log on to railtourismindia.com and book Rail Tour Package, Holiday Package, Hotels, Cabs, Tourist Trains online. Apart from conventional tourism, IRCTC also offers adventure tourism packages that include water sports, adventure and wildlife treks, etc. A provision for customising tours as per specific requirements is also an added attraction.

Functions of Online ticketing System 1. Booking of I-tickets, e-tickets and tatkal tickets. I-ticket - refers to a Railway reservation booked on this website for the consummation of which a printed Railway ticket on standard Stationery is dispatched by IRCTC to the Customer through the courier, which constitute the authority to travel on trains. E-ticket - refers to a Railway reservation booked on this website, for the consummation of which the customer prints out an Electronic Reservation Slip which, along with one of the authorized personal identification, constitutes the authority to travel, in lieu of the regular ticket on standard Stationery. Tatkal Ticket - A ticket booked against Tatkal Quota against extra payment of premium charges as per extant Railway rules. A maximum of six berths/seats can be booked at a time for a specified journey between any two stations served by the train subject to distance restrictions in force.

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An individual user can book a maximum of ten tickets in a calendar month. Booking can be done against general (GN), SS (senior citizen), ladies (LD) and tatkal (CK) quota berths/seats only. Tatkal Quota (CK) berths/seats are earmarked in all-important trains in different classes except First Class Air-conditioned (1A) class. Ladies quota (LD) is generally earmarked in Sleeper class (SL) and second sitting (2S). In case of tickets booked through internet no concession is permitted except senior citizen. General enquiries available: a. Accommodation available for a train/date combination b. Current Status of reserved tickets. c. Time table d. Train fare e. Trains available between a given pair of stations Courier delivery of tickets (I-tickets) limited to postal addresses covered by the pin codes listed under the link "Places of Delivery ". For details of areas where courier delivery is provided at present, categorized by PINCODE. E-Booking or E-reservation facility available for all trains.

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10. On line cancellation facility for E-tickets alone, up to the charting time for that train. (E-tickets cannot be cancelled at counters) 11. Mobile booking of I-Tickets and E-tickets through NGPAY Mobile application, booking of I-Tickets and E-tickets through CSAM- IRCTC Mobile Application, I tickets on airtel live, via IRCTC's WAP enabled site. 12. Auto-Up gradation is available to the next higher class on optional basis.

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