Signal issues plague use of point-of-sale machines, say railways staff

The railways had provided 80 PoS machines to ticket checking staff, but they hardly use it due to the technical issues attached with these, such as poor network signal in moving trains.

With a sudden spurt in the number of transactions through the point-of-sale (PoS) machines amid the Coronavirus pandemic, poor network connectivity is troubling the ticket checking staff at the city railway station.

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A PoS machine is a hand-held device used to process card payments. It is used in case a person is travelling without a ticket and has no cash with them. In such cases, the passenger can pay through debit/credit card and the ticket checking staff will process the payment through a PoS machine and issue a receipt to the passenger and keep a copy with them.

The railways had provided 80 PoS machines to ticket checking staff at Ludhiana railway station in August 15, but they hardly use it due to the technical issues attached with these, such as poor network signal in moving trains.

Requesting anonymity, a staffer said that one of the reasons for providing PoS machines to them was to minimise cash transactions due to the Covid-19 outbreak, but due to poor signal in moving trains, they were struggling to use the devices.

The railway staff is also finding it difficult to keep a record of receipts as the ink on them fades out within a week, making it impossible to decipher the text. According to the staff, they have to store the receipts for six months.

One solution is to keep photocopies of the receipts, but that will cause financial burden on the staff.

They have sent a representation to senior officers over these issues.