Airtel Money, the mobile wallet from Bharti Airtel, has tied up with Indian Railways Catering And Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) to offer mobile based ticket reservations for over 185 million customers country wide.
Besides booking tickets via Airtel Money, customers using Airtel connections can search for stations, trains, availability, PNR enquiry, cancellation by dialing *400# to access a USSD system, without worrying about the kind of handset or about paying data or SMS charges. USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) technology will prompt users with interactive and guided menu options towards booking tickets.
When Airtel subscribers dial *400#, an Airtel Money express account will be generated into which customers will have to load cash by visiting an Airtel Money outlet or online. To use the service an IRCTC registration is must, which should be updated with the Airtel Money number. Post booking, ticket booking SMS will be sent by IRCTC which can be used while travelling along with one ID proof.
Airtel Money is semi-closed mobile wallet service wholly owned subsidiary Airtel M-Commerce Services Limited, available across 300 key cities in India. Users can spend the cash in Airtel Money to transfer money, pay utility bills and recharges, shop at 7,000+ merchant outlets and transact online.
IRCTC is set to launch ticket booking via SMS and USSD from July 1 that will allow people to book tickets using mobile phones of any kind. While Airtel Money is providing USSD service, SMS services are being offered by Bharat BPO, Frequency Weekly and Pyro Group.
Customers can send SMS to 139 and 5676714 for the first two companies and for the third, customers will have to install a BSNL pre-paid card.
Customers will have to send a booking SMS in a specified format with date of journey, class, train number and passenger details to one of these numbers and they will receive seat availability. The payment will be initiated in the second SMS. Customers may be charged on a per message basis.
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