IRCTC Full Form Name
Full
Form of IRCTC :
Indian
Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation
IRCTC
Full Form is Indian Railway Catering and
Tourism Corporation. It is an auxiliary unit of Indian Railways and it
handles tourism, catering, as well as online ticketing functions. The IRCTC has
eliminated various difficulties of public having to stand in long queues amidst
their busy schedule to book tickets. Anyone can just plan and organize to book
an entire tour just by sitting at the comfort of his own space in the given
reservation timings.
The
TATKAL scheme of IRCTC enables public to make emergency booking within 24 hours
of departure of trains with additional charges. IRCTC recently introduced
eWallet for its website. This scheme has enabled users (public) to deposit some
money with IRCTC and utilize the same to make payments while booking tickets.
IRCTC
Full Form – Additional Information
Indian
railways have a history which makes it the biggest employer in the world. It is
one of the largest networks of railways in the world and there is no wonder
why, as it caters to the need of the nation, with the second largest population
in the world.
There
are many facets to the Indian railways and one such is the Indian railways
Catering and Tourism Corporation. It is the Indian Railways’ subsidiary, which
is responsible for dealing with areas such as ticketing operations, tourism and
catering facilities for the Indian railways and its customers.
In
this article, an expansive view shall be undertaken that will highlight some
interesting facts about Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation, which
hereinafter shall be referred to as IRCTC. So, here are five points about
IRCTC:
History
behind the establishment of IRCTC
The
corporation was founded under the aegis of Ministry of Railways with the aim of
catering to the needs of one of the biggest service providers in the world. It
has been created to deal with catering, tourism, and ticketing business. It
handles its functions with professionals and with a high-end target of
achieving maximum utility.
What
is more interesting about this corporation is that it welcomes a co-operative
participation from both public and private sector.The corporation works in
collaboration with private agencies, transport agencies, tour promoters,
hoteliers, tour operators, and public agencies. With all this, the corporation
holds the crown for handling the needs of more than 13 million passengers every
single day.
With
time, IRCTC has managed to attain major achievements and honors that have
become an inseparable part of its history. IRCTC is actually the largest
e-commerce platform in the country and many records are ascribed to it such as
in the year 2013, the platform achieved booking of record 582,000 tickets in a
single day. Following in the year 2015, IRCTC made record booking of 1345,000.
Apart
from the records, the IRCTC has been honored with the Best Website Award
in the year 2014; Best E-Commerce Portal by Dalal Street Investment Journal
(abbreviated as DSIJ); Best Use of App during the Mobilian event; best retail
award in the year 2015.
Thus,
the corporation IRCTC has grown into a potentially strong and commendable
platform that is designed to motivate a more convenient environment to the
customer of Indian Railways. While there have been many critics of IRCTC in
general, there is no gainsaying that ever since the advent of IRCTC the Indian
Railways have functioned more smoothly and conveniently.
Objectives
of IRCTC
As
mentioned above, the corporation was founded with certain objectives in mind
and some them have been mentioned below:
- The corporation is aimed at
promoting a passenger-friendly environment with the help of creativity,
newer technologies, and proactive staff.
- To conduct management in a
manner so as enable optimization of resources, improvement in the
productivity of the manpower, by including strategic policies in this
respect.
- To enable up gradation of the
existing services of Indian Railways.
- To ensure a competent, high
standard business environment by fostering teamwork, and implementing
effective measures.
- To promote protection and
preservation of the environment, with the help of its strategic marketing
techniques and other policy implementation.
- To promote Indian culture among
passengers of the Indian railways through various activities undertaken
under the aegis of Indian Railways. This is often depicted in the designs
and painted bodies of certain trains.
Online
Ticketing
One
of the areas where the corporation deals in is Online Ticketing. When the
corporation entered into online ticketing, there was a major change in the
railway system. It came up with an internet portal for ticket booking via its
customized website, or through other services such as SMS or GPRS. Apart from
e-ticketing services, the corporation offers I-tickets that are similar to
normal tickets but they are booked through online process. The PNR status of
the tickets can also be updated.
The
corporation has launched Shubh Yatra, which is a loyalty program for frequent
or regular travelers. By this program, the passengers can take benefits from
discounts on tickets. Another scheme is known as Rolling Deposit Scheme
(abbreviated as RDS), which is an online ticket booking scheme facilitating the
passengers to have seats reserved against the advance money that is placed with
the corporation. Additionally, there are also flight and hotel booking facilities.
Tourism
services of IRCTC
One
of the main focus areas of the corporation is Tourism. The corporation is
responsible for scheming different travel packages, including deluxe and budget
packages. Such packages are formulated for both domestic and international
tourists. One such package is Bharat Darshan that is a popular budget package
that covers important destinations in the country.
Additionally,
there are also luxury packages that have in operation trains such as Maharajas
Express and Buddhist Circuit Train. While the aforementioned deal with
conventional tourism packages, the corporation also offers packages that cover
adventure, water sports, treks, and others. There are packages that can be
customized.
Tatkal
Booking
This
feature enables passengers to book tickets on every express train in short
notice. The time for booking has been fixed at 10:00 AM every day for
reservation in AC coaches. However, for reservation in non-AC coaches, the
timing has been fixed to 11 AM. The booking is available before the day of
departure of the train. It is important that those passengers who travel on a
tatkal ticket that they carry with themselves necessary ID proof that is to be
furnished to the ticket checker.
Though
the following information is general, it must be noted. The IRCTC runs helpline
numbers that offer a variety of customer services. Such customer care services
are paid or toll-free, depending upon the category of customer service. The
facility is available throughout day and night and on these numbers, customers
can very well give their feedback or post queries, whatever the case may be.
1800-111-139 is the number, which is toll-free.