Indian Railways to introduce "book now, pay later" option

Railways have decided to provide the 'buy tickets now and pay later' service for any Express trains, an IRCTC official said on Thursday.

According to the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) Ltd official, soon passengers would be able to buy tickets from the IRCTC website and pay later.

IRCTC spokesperson Sandip Dutta told IANS: "IRCTC has collaborated with a Mumbai-based firm ePayLater for adding the new service option."

"Through this service, a passenger can book a ticket five days prior to the journey with a service charge of 3.5 per cent and pay it in the next 14 days," Dutta said.

He also said that this option was valid only on e-tickets.

Elaborating on the new feature, Dutta said, "The way a credit card is issued after evaluating the CIBIL score of a customer, the same procedure will be followed."

"Those who want to opt for this service have to give their name, email ID, mobile number, their PAN card or Aadhaar details," the IRCTC official said.

The officer also said that once the customer gets approval to use the feature, they would be sent an OTP (one-time password) to enable them to use the service.

The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited (IRCTC)