Railways extends discounts on train tickets booked through UPI/BHIM
To promote digital payments, the railways have extended the discount scheme on booking train tickets through Unified Payments Interface (UPI)/Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM) at railway counters. UPI/BHIM is accepted as one payment option while booking tickets at railway counters and a 5% discount is offered on the total value of the basic fare, subject to a maximum amount of discount of Rs 50 on a ticket. The discount is applicable on the value of a ticket being Rs 100 and more. According to a notification from the railways, the discount scheme on booking tickets through UPI/BHIM at railway counters has been extended till 13 June, 2019.
The railways have asked CRIS (Centre For Railway Information Systems) to furnish details of the amount of discount given by 31 May, 2009, for further review of this facility. The railways have also tied up with SBI to install 10,000 point-of-sale (PoS) machines for facilitating digital payments at ticket booking counters and parcel/goods locations.
The Railways Ministry had in December 2017 extended the facility of booking tickets from counters through the UPI/BHIM apps payment system. The facility of payment through UPI/BHIM for booking e-tickets online on the IRCTC website had been implemented earlier.
UPI or Unified Payments Interface, an instant payment system developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), allows instant money transfer between any two parties’ bank accounts, without disclosing account numbers or other details. For convenience of users, a UPI app called BHIM has been developed by NPCI, based on the Unified Payment Interface (UPI).
How to book train tickets through UPI/BHIM at railway station counters:
The person at the railway counter will obtain travel details from the passenger and inform the fare to be paid
If customer opts to pay through UPI/BHIM, the person at the counter will select UPI as payment option and request the passenger’s Virtual Payment Address (VPA) and initiate the transaction in the terminal.
The passenger will receive a payment request on his mobile to confirm payment.
If the payment request is confirmed by the passenger, his/her UPI-linked account will be debited the fare amount.
On successful transaction, the teller will print the ticket and the passenger can collect the ticket.
