Indian Railways have, taking an innovative step, tied up with Citibank and introduced Equated Monthly Installment (EMI) system for Ticket bookings on IRCTC website.
This step should come as a huge relief for those who often upset their budgets due to unplanned rail travel, long distance journeys or travelling on premium trains.
Recently , the government had introduced special premium Holiday trains to meet the huge rush on account of the holiday season but since their fares are almost three times the normal fare (and in some, cases, even more than air travel across the same route), the consumers have not been too happy about it.
All those keen on using these premium holiday trains to travel are sure to love the EMI facility.
How to Avail the EMI Facility for Booking Train Tickets?
To begin with, travelers can pay of their train tickets through EMIs only if they book their tickets online.
So when you log in to the IRCTC site for booking your ticket online now, you will see an additional option besides the credit card booking, debit card booking and Net banking options.
Users who click on the EMI option will then be asked to share their credit card details. After filling in those details, the entire ticket amount will be deducted from their credit card account and transferred to the IRCTC account. The bank will later release those funds in the form of monthly installments.
Limitations of This Facility
The facility is available only for people holding Citibank credit cards at the moment. Till Railways tie up with other banks and roll it out for a greater number of people, it will not benefit a large number of people.
What is appreciable, however, is the constant endeavor of the state owned Railways to make the system more user-friendly and to streamline the booking procedure for them. Since the facility is already available for holders of Citibank credit cards, it should not take long before other banks tie up with the Railways for this.
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[…] Indian Railways have, taking an innovative step, tied up with Citibank and introduced Equated Monthly Installment (EMI) system for Ticket bookings on IRCTC website. […]