All is Not Well with E-Ticketing

Nick-H · Feb 19th, 2008, 20:21

Quote:

The server problems coupled with increased number of visitors and other technical delays in the e-ticketing system of Indian Railways’ Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) have been shattering the emergency travel plans of many, who turn to the system for convenience.

The IRCTC officials themselves agree that 10 per cent of the bookings on e-ticketing failed on a daily basis. However, they claimed that no passenger would lose the money if the booking failed.

Should you find yourself unable to book that ticket, it is quite likely your fault it seems:

Quote:

“Yes, we have a problem in e-ticketing. But, by and large the system has been working without much trouble for the last few years and we have a fulfledged grievance redressal system in place. Now, the summer rush is on and the website may be getting too many hits, giving trouble to the smooth conduct of the site,” V Jayaram, Regional Director, IRCTC, said. Ganapathy Subramaniam, assistant manager, IT, IRCTC, said, “Everyday, we are booking one lakh tickets through e-ticketing. But there is 10 per cent failure in it. On Monday, the server was down and the system was not working in the afternoon.

Read The full article at The New Indian Express

1 lakh, by the way, for those not familiar with lakhs and crores, is 100,000.

snonymous · Feb 19th, 2008, 21:18

Yes, I tried to book twice on the Indian railway website and both times it failed after I had given my card details. To be fair to them, the amounts were refunded instantly, but where does that leave your railway booking? Fortunately we can send a peon from our office to the railway counter as our office is in the city area but Indian Railways really ought to get their act together prior to launching such online booking systems.

Nick-H · Feb 19th, 2008, 21:31

I suspect that it suffers from having been built in bits --- hence the infamous 'communication errors'.

They did give the system a major upgrade a year or two ago, but it seems they have still not succeeded in scaling it for the demand.

mridula · Feb 19th, 2008, 21:33

We on the other hand have always managed to get e-tickets in the end. Last being the previous week from Old Delhi to Kotdwar.

steven_ber · Feb 19th, 2008, 22:01

There are plans for a major overhaul of the website including many new exciting features, Indian Railways asked for private sector companies to put in bids for the work, the closing date for the bids was a few days ago, maybe there will be an anouncement in the rail budget next Tuesday.

gianni66 · Feb 19th, 2008, 22:13

Considering that I had to change completely my travel plan due to job constraints, and that I also made some cancellation due to my personal attitude (let's say, passion...) to make and re-make plannings, I can say that in the last month I have purchased online 25 tickets from IRCTC, and cancelled 18.

All the transactions have been fast and successfull, except in three cases, in which everything went OK until the payment, then got the ususl frustrating error message. But I got full refund on my credit card within two days.

And I also have received the refunds for all the cancelled tickets (deducted the cancellation charges) very quickly.

I have always used CITI Bank Gateway with my VISA card, after some attempts to use ICICI Bank Gateway and a good suggestion from someone in this website to skip ICICI and use CITI Bank.

Can I consider myself a rare example of lucky-user of IRCTC?

Nick-H · Feb 19th, 2008, 22:19

Given their claimed ten-pre-cent failure rate, and without adding up your figures, your three problems is probably not that far off average.

I've booked, and subsequently cancelled, a return trip for two in the last month. Four transactions, four successes.

But when it's bad ---its a pig.

L&L · Feb 20th, 2008, 03:50

When people recommend CITI Bank on the payment site, do you have to actually have a Citi bank card from the US? Or will a regular Bank of America Visa card do? I'm trying to avoid the dreaded error message!

sanyukai · Feb 20th, 2008, 06:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by L&L

When people recommend CITI Bank on the payment site, do you have to actually have a Citi bank card from the US? Or will a regular Bank of America Visa card do? I'm trying to avoid the dreaded error message!

You don't need a CITI Bank card because it's a CITI Bank "Gateway", which means it is used as a gateway to process credit card transactions. I always use my Mastercard and, probably I'm lucky, I've made payments through the CITIBank PG 7 or 8 times for these 2 years without any failure.

L&L · Feb 20th, 2008, 11:48

thanks-I'll try my visa card but select citibank & keep my fingers crossed...
What did you mean by citibank pg?

steven_ber · Feb 20th, 2008, 12:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by L&L

What did you mean by citibank pg?

Payment Gateway.

nomad · Feb 27th, 2008, 08:24

if you want to have a better success rate with IRCTC

book between 2AM and 6 AM IST.

Nick-H · Feb 27th, 2008, 13:48

Have they changed the hours? It used to be closed in the night.

nomad · Feb 27th, 2008, 13:49

i think i booked my ticket around 6AM IST.
and iremeber booking tickets late in the night also. (not very sure)

Feb 19th, 2008, 21:33	#4
mridula Sair Kar Duniya Ki Galib , Jindagani Fir Kahan ... Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: India Posts: 1,251	We on the other hand have always managed to get e-tickets in the end. Last being the previous week from Old Delhi to Kotdwar. __________________ mridula http://www.gonomad.com/traveltalesfromindia/

Feb 19th, 2008, 22:01	#5
steven_ber Member Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: London, England. Posts: 8,926	There are plans for a major overhaul of the website including many new exciting features, Indian Railways asked for private sector companies to put in bids for the work, the closing date for the bids was a few days ago, maybe there will be an anouncement in the rail budget next Tuesday. __________________ . How to get helpful replies to your transport/Itinerary questions. Train information.

Feb 20th, 2008, 03:50	#8
L&L Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: California Posts: 16	When people recommend CITI Bank on the payment site, do you have to actually have a Citi bank card from the US? Or will a regular Bank of America Visa card do? I'm trying to avoid the dreaded error message! __________________ Leanna & Larry

Feb 27th, 2008, 08:24	#12
nomad Maha Guru Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Singapura Posts: 609	if you want to have a better success rate with IRCTC book between 2AM and 6 AM IST. __________________ Rahul Verma http://rverma.smugmug.com www.pbase.com/rverma

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Feb 19th, 2008, 21:18	#2
snonymous Maha Guru Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Mumbai Posts: 707	Yes, I tried to book twice on the Indian railway website and both times it failed after I had given my card details. To be fair to them, the amounts were refunded instantly, but where does that leave your railway booking? Fortunately we can send a peon from our office to the railway counter as our office is in the city area but Indian Railways really ought to get their act together prior to launching such online booking systems.

Feb 19th, 2008, 21:31	#3
Nick-H Loud-mouthed, Noisy Bird Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Chennai, India Posts: 25,811	I suspect that it suffers from having been built in bits --- hence the infamous 'communication errors'. They did give the system a major upgrade a year or two ago, but it seems they have still not succeeded in scaling it for the demand.

Feb 19th, 2008, 22:13	#6
gianni66 Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Rome, Italy Posts: 285	Considering that I had to change completely my travel plan due to job constraints, and that I also made some cancellation due to my personal attitude (let's say, passion...) to make and re-make plannings, I can say that in the last month I have purchased online 25 tickets from IRCTC, and cancelled 18. All the transactions have been fast and successfull, except in three cases, in which everything went OK until the payment, then got the ususl frustrating error message. But I got full refund on my credit card within two days. And I also have received the refunds for all the cancelled tickets (deducted the cancellation charges) very quickly. I have always used CITI Bank Gateway with my VISA card, after some attempts to use ICICI Bank Gateway and a good suggestion from someone in this website to skip ICICI and use CITI Bank. Can I consider myself a rare example of lucky-user of IRCTC?

Feb 19th, 2008, 22:19	#7
Nick-H Loud-mouthed, Noisy Bird Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Chennai, India Posts: 25,811	Given their claimed ten-pre-cent failure rate, and without adding up your figures, your three problems is probably not that far off average. I've booked, and subsequently cancelled, a return trip for two in the last month. Four transactions, four successes. But when it's bad ---its a pig.

Feb 20th, 2008, 11:48	#10
L&L Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: California Posts: 16	thanks-I'll try my visa card but select citibank & keep my fingers crossed... What did you mean by citibank pg?

Feb 27th, 2008, 13:48	#13
Nick-H Loud-mouthed, Noisy Bird Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Chennai, India Posts: 25,811	Have they changed the hours? It used to be closed in the night.

Feb 27th, 2008, 13:49	#14
nomad Maha Guru Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Singapura Posts: 609	i think i booked my ticket around 6AM IST. and iremeber booking tickets late in the night also. (not very sure)

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