E- ticket booking service RailYatri integrates with IRCTC

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Popular e-ticketing website and app, RailYatri, has now been authorised by the IRCTC to continue its ticket booking services, months after the Delhi High Court termed the services "unauthorised".

The court had in April this year ruled that the businesses and operation of the website and mobile application RailYatri were unauthorised.

Dismissing the writ petitions filed by Stelling Technologies, which owns and manages the mobile application, the court said on a "deeper consideration of the methodology evolved by M/s Stelling, through its platform Railyatri.in connecting customers to RSPs (Retail Service Providers) and booking tickets by collecting money in its wallet and earning revenue, is surely unauthorised".

RailYatri obtained the IRCTC license and under it, it has now been authorised to continue its e-booking services.

The move was confirmed by the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) which said the integration was done last week.

Such integrations are essential to ensure that passengers who book tickets on such portals are not forced to pay any extra charges, officials said.

The licence, they said, also comes with a fee charged by the IRCTC.

"Simplifying train ticket booking through data driven insights along with digital tools like 'Live Train Status' for managing train delays has helped us achieve leadership in this segment. We look forward to serving the customers through our unique knowledge based service which aims to provide seamless travel experience," said Manish Rathi, CEO and co-founder, RailYatri.in.

RailYatri provides train-related information namely, PNR status, Live Train Status, Train between stations, seat availability and confirmation predictability. Further, it offers online bus tickets, meal-on-train services and has recently expanded its fleet of IntrCity SmartBus to 12 cities across north and south.

"Our endeavour is to provide unmatched intercity transport connectivity to passengers and this partnership with IRCTC will help strengthen multi-modal booking and travel related information services," Kapil Raizada, Co-founder, RailYatri added.