Setting up your IRCTC and Cleartrip accounts for buying railway tickets from abroad

Gareth

It doesn't ring any bells as a known issue. Are you able to login to IRCTC and go through their booking proceedure up to the point where you are asked to pay for a ticket?

Hi Dave

Yes, I can get to availability, credit card/debit card entry, and Iīve even submitted details on both sites - Cleartrip around 10 times with 3 different cards - 'your trip has not been booked but we've taken the money, please wait 15 working days for a refund' etc, IRCTC just the once...

I have no Amex so didn't expect a result from IRCTC but I'm lost as to why I canīt book on Cleartrip.
As I mentioned I've sent another mail to IRCTC.

If it's not a common problem I'll just wait for their reply (reply back, wait for their reply etc)
It`s just such a shame because the Goa/Mumbai Mandovi Express is supposed a real highlight - maybe it's a message that I need to sit in unreserved, and me with my highfalutin ideas of 2AC...

cheers

gareth

Just a thought. Which browser are you using? There have been reports of problems for people using Internet Explorer.

Also we have just moved into a new day in Indian time so it might be worth another try if you haven't done so in the last hour.

I've been using Chrome rather then IE, i guess I could also try Firefox, some threads suggest that.
Why do you think the new day might make a difference?

It might just be some glitch on one of the websites. Cleartrip talks to IRCTC talks to Indian Railways CRIS system. The IR site is really slow and cumbersome. It shuts down for maintenance everyday between 23.30 and 00.30 IST. There is sometimes no apparent logic to why things don't work and then suddenly do work for no clear reason.

Persistence does seem to pay off.

Like many other posters, I have been trying for more than one month to synchronise my IRCTC and Cleartrip registrations in order to book trains from outside India.

I have (several times) sent scanned passport copies to IRCTC, and have received the mobile OTP via email.

I have always used the latest email password sent to me.

I have also emailed IRCTC (on several different occasions) asking them to issue me with new mobile and email OTPs to prevent what I suspect is some kind of unsynchronised slippage between the new email OTP and the old Mobile OTP sent via email.

I have emailed and phoned IRCTC and Cleartrip about the problem, sending them screenshots of the error msg, and detailing the steps I have taken, but they inevitably play the blame the other party game, so that I now realise the customer is merely a hard-hit ball in a dumb game of registration tennis. This has not deterred me from persisting with my attempt to activate and book tickets. We have planned many train trips in India during January/Feb 2013.

I have read Ramy's helpful thread but always get stuck at the pen-ultimate step. My mobile OTP is always declared "invalid". I have followed all the hints here...such as

waiting several hours or 24 hours before attempting again to activate the IRCTC account via Cleartrip

never pressing the link to request a new mobile OTP (one IRCTC customer service person told me early on NEVER to do this)

Does anyone have any further suggestions or hints? Is it possible to book train tickets via a travel agent in India, for example? Or should I continue to rage, scream, and occasionally regain sufficient equanimity to persevere in a stoic manner?

fruitbatt

Have you tried starting again from the very beginning using a fresh email address?

Which internet browser are you using?

Yes, Dave, I have tried to register with IRCTC using a different browser (Google Chrome) and a different (gmail) address but IRCTC gave the message that it "looks as if you have forgotten your details". I was successful in opening a new Cleartrip account under my partner's name, but IRCTC just isn't buying any attempt to open a new account with them. I have tried using IE, GC, and MF in my various attempts to synchronise IRCTC and Cleartrip.

What are you entering where you are asked for a mobile phone number? I wonder if the number that you are entering already has an account linked to it. That might explain why your partner could open a Cleartrip account (they don't care) but is unable to synch it with IRCTC.

For the attempt to register with IRCTC under a new name, email address, etc I gave the correct number of digits which read (from memory) number 1234554321. It is possible, I suppose, that this could be an Indian phone number linked to an existing account.

I will have another attempt to register with IRCTC from scratch using a 0000000000 or similar number via Mozilla, and with a gmail address. Will post the outcome. Wish me luck the equivalent of scaling Everest?

Don't use a number startng with 0. That has been reported as causing problems. I use my UK mobile number less the initial 0. Using obvious chains of numbers may well cause problems as they will have been obvious to other people.

I just tried to register from scratch with IRCTC via Google Chrome using a gmail address and a different phone number and street address. The problem is that I have to use either my own name or that of my partner to do the registration. So the same old message appears along the lines of "it looks as if you have forgotten the details you used to register with IRCTC. Please contact IRCTC..." etc
The same old carousel cranks to life again...I cannot see a way out of this impossible maze, since IRCTC will never address the issue in any helpful way. They merely re-issue passwords. If anyone has any other clues or tricks or ways to circumvent the IRCTC route to booking I would be extremely grateful for your help.

A long shot. Phone IRCTC and ask them to close the accounts in your name and your partner's. Don't bother calling Cleartrip - you will only be wasting your money.

Then start again.

Guilty, sort of.

1234554321 is the number I tried to use the first time I joined IRCTC, the number already belonged to an account.

Small world.

I used a different email and phone number each time, but the same name, address etc., and always got a new account.

I'm not saying it's easy, just trying to help, personally, I give up in the end, but I'm lucky, I know the trains and know how to book late if needed (a pain), I hope you succeed.