Indian Railways has been trying to increase its presence online by offering food delivery to customers directly on their seat, and partnering with some beverage chains to deliver fresh beverages. Not only food, now passengers can also request coach cleaning on demand through an app.
In a bid to improve its e-catering service and channelize more requests to its online portal for food ordering, IRCTC has launched a scheme to offer 50% cash back to all prepaid orders above Rs. 300. The cash back will be processed only if the order has been placed through IRCTC’s website or the app ‘Food on Track’.
There are a few conditions to this scheme as well. Firstly, the order must be prepaid to be eligible for a cash back. The offer will stand null if the order is partially or fully cancelled and the bill amount to reduced to less than Rs. 300.
AK Manocha, Chairman and Managing Director at IRCTC, said, “IRCTC’s e-catering facility, which has broad-based the culinary choices in a significant manner, is now turning out to be a big hit with rail passengers. The 50 per cent cash back offer will further induce passengers to patronise our e-catering facility.”
The cash back will be processed only after the delivery date to the account from which the transaction was done. The customer will receive a notification for the refund amount as well.
AK Manocha has targeted IRCTC’s growth at 15-20% in turnover over the next 5 years and over 60% of the tickets booked today are booked online. Shifting the catering business online by providing these incentives can see larger growth in terms of catering as well as flexibility in food delivery.
IRCTC has also planned to provide a better packaging service to its orders to communicate hygiene, appeal and commitment to its customers. It was high time such a decision was taken because we haven’t been hearing much good news from trains’ pantry compartment.
E-catering service has only just begun and with Digital India in full swing, we can see more passengers adopting it over regular offline service at stations. It is also more convenient and provides cleaner and tastier alternatives to the existing service in trains.
The cash back offer is already live on the website. So, next time you are traveling in Indian Railways, and want to order food, make sure you take advantage of this offer. And yes, do let us know about your experience in the comments below.
