IRCTC Makes eTickets Cheaper; No MDR For Debit Cards Payments!
MDR or Merchant Discount Rate is a charge which is levied on the merchants, by the banks for using their debit cards for accepting payments from customers.
This was a decision, which was much awaited – both from the banks and from the general public.
IRCTC has decided to waive off MDR charges for all debit card transactions on their platform, for booking eTickets.
However, there is a rider: Only transactions till Rs 1 lakh would be covered, which translates to more than 99% of all tickets booked.
Cheer, because rail travel has now become cheaper!
In a related news, train tickets would be now printed in regional languages as well, which is a very important step, as train tickets were printed only in English and Hindi languages since the beginning.
IRCTC: No MDR On Debit Card Payments
MDR or Merchant Discount Rate is a charge which is levied on the merchants, by the banks for using their debit cards for accepting payments from customers.
Merchants, in turn, charge the same from the customers.
Hence, if an SBI debit card was used for booking tickets at IRCTC portal, then an MDR was charged by the IRCTC from the customer, in order to pay SBI.
From now on, this MDR has been removed.
Although Govt. had removed MDR for all debit card transactions till Rs 2000 (for two years), IRCTC continued to charge it at 0.75% till Rs 2000, and 1% beyond that.
Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance has issued instructions to all banks regarding this removal of MDR.
Transactions on IRCTC portal till Rs 1,00,000 would be covered under this exemption.
Note here, that service charge of Rs 20 to Rs 40 on eTickets booked on IRCTC portal is different from MDR charges.
This service charge on eTickets has been waived till March 31, 2018.
Train Tickets Now In Regional Languages!
Meanwhile, Indian Railways will now soon start issuing railway tickets in regional languages.
South-Western Railways has started the initiative from Bengaluru, where unreserved counter tickets are now printed in Kannada, besides English and Hindi.
Online tickets have not been covered under this initiative.
Soon, other Southern states: Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are also expected to kickstart tickets in regional languages.
We will keep you updated!
