Confused about booking tickets on your phone? CR will show you how

Much as commuters dislike long queues at suburban railway stations, not many are booking tickets through their smart phones, Central Railway (CR) data shows.

Much as commuters dislike long queues at suburban railway stations, not many are booking tickets through their smart phones, Central Railway (CR) data shows. To familiarise you with the process, CR officials will soon come to your offices and colleges.

Power-point presentations and question-answer sessions will be held to guide commuters through the ticket booking process, officials said.

Initially, these sessions will be held in technical institutes, colleges and government and corporate offices, as they comprise high number of smart phone users. Later on, they will be held at suburban stations.

The move is aimed to minimise the rush at ticket counters, CR officials said. At present, more than 50,000 people have downloaded the unreserved ticketing system (UTS) - Centre for Railway Information Systems mobile app, but very few avail the facility.

However, CR statistics show a rise in mobile phone ticket booking in the past two months. In January, 1,158 tickets were sold through mobile phones, while in February the number to 3,046. In March, 1,107 mobile tickets have been sold so far.

“We are seeing a consistent growth in the number of mobile ticket buyers, without major efforts to promote it. Hence, we have decided to take initiatives to popularise the facility,” said a CR official.

Around 10lakh suburban tickets are sold daily on the CR. Of this, the most number of tickets – 5 to 6 lakh – are sold through counters. Commuters using the mobile ticketing facility have complained about glitches in the service.

The biggest complaint is that recharges for R-wallets are not available at all counters and they have to pay service charge and tax to do it online. Non-functional ATVMs are another issue. “I did not get a SMS after booking the ticket online. When I tried to print the ticket, the ATVM was not working. Authorities should provide error-free services if they want us to shift to mobile ticketing,” said Sujesh Desai, Thane resident.

* Use your smart phone, avoid queues
Users with android or windows operating systems on their phones can download UTS Centre for Railway Information Systems app

Sign up by entering your mobile number, name and city

Once you do this, an one-time password (OTP) will be generated

The OTP will be received via SMS on your phone

Simultaneously, a railway-wallet (R-wallet) will be created, which the users will have to fill by paying a minimum amount of Rs 100

* How to recharge the R-wallet
The R-wallet can be refilled at railway stations and online via the unreserved ticketing system (UTS) website: https://www.utsonmobile.indianrail.gov.in

Minimum recharge value: Rs 100

Once R-wallet is recharged, log in using your mobile number and password

Select normal booking, source station and destination station, press done, key in the number of tickets and class

Payment is done through the R-wallet by default

* Get your ticket
You will get an SMS with a unique booking ID. Insert this ID in the mobile ticketing option of Automatic Ticket Vending Machines (ATVM) at suburban stations and collect the printed ticket

The facility is now available at all suburban stations.