Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is an Indian public sector undertaking that provides ticketing, catering, and tourism services for the state-owned Indian Railways. It was established in 1999 by the Government of India and operated under the administrative control of the Ministry of Railways. In 2019, it was listed on the National Stock Exchange and Bombay Stock Exchange with the Government holding a 67% ownership. As of December 2023, there are 66 million registered users with IRCTC with a daily average of 7.31 lakh tickets booked.

History
Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) was established on 27 September 1999, as a public sector undertaking completely owned by the Government of India through the Indian Railways. In May 2008, it was classed as a Miniratna public corporation, which allowed it a certain degree of financial autonomy. In 2018, then Railway Minister Piyush Goyal stated that the government was exploring opportunities for disinvestment of IRCTC.

The company was listed on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in 2019, following which the Government of India's holding was reduced to 87%, with the remaining shares being publicly traded. In December 2020, the Government of India divested another 20%, reducing its holding in the IRCTC to 67%. In December 2022, the government dis-invested further 5% of its share, reducing its ownership to 62.4%.

Ticketing and information
Online ticketing for Indian Railways was introduced on 3 August 2002 through IRCTC. IRCTC provides multiple channels for passengers to book tickets through website, smartphone apps and SMS. For Electronic tickets (e-tickets) booked online, IRCTC issues an electronic ticket with a reference PNR on a successful booking. Electronic tickets can be used for travel along with a valid photo identification and cancellation can be done online. For Internet tickets (I-tickets), while the booking is done online, physical tickets are sent to the customer through post.

Reserved tickets may be booked up to 120 days in advance and confirmed reservation tickets will show the passenger and fare details along with berth or seat number(s) allocated to them on the ticket. In case of no confirmed reservation, a wait-list (WL) number is assigned. There are different types of wait-lists depending on the originating and destination stations of the train and the passenger including Roadside Station Waiting List (RSWL) when tickets are booked from the originating station to an intermediate station and Pooled Quota Waiting List (PQWL) where tickets booked to travel between specific sets of stations are pooled as a single category. A General Waiting List (GNWL) ticket has no such restrictions, and wait-listed tickets get confirmed if there are cancellations of already reserved tickets in the respective categories and get cancelled automatically if seats are not confirmed before the departure of the train. Reservation against cancellation tickets (RAC) is an intermediate category between the waiting and confirmed lists in sleeper classes which allows a ticket holder to board the train and share a berth. Reserved tickets can be booked by passengers who want to travel at short notice at higher fares through the Tatkal quota (TQ), which has a standalone waiting list (TQWL) and no refund is applicable on cancellation of confirmed tickets.

In 2011, IRCTC launched a loyalty program called Shubh Yatra for frequent travelers wherein passengers could avail discounts on all tickets by paying an upfront annual subscription fee. In 2012, IRCTC introduced the Rolling Deposit Scheme (RDS), a type of closed wallet wherein customers can book tickets using money already deposited. In 2013, flight and hotel booking services were added as a part of online reservation services. In 2016, IRCTC launched a lighter version of its website to enable booking at low speed internet connections. On 7 August 2019, IRCTC launched a payment wallet named iMudra. On 11 August 2021, IRCTC introduced a smart card system through which unreserved train tickets which can be bought either at railway stations or online. IRCTC provides train and ticketing related information to passengers through SMS.



Catering and hospitality
IRCTC has exclusive rights for onboard catering of food on all trains operated by the Indian Railways. Pantry cars are attached to long and medium distance trains, where food may be prepared onboard or pre-cooked meals can be served depending on the type of the train and the accommodation class. IRCTC also operates food plazas, cafeterias and refreshment rooms at various railway stations. In 2014, IRCTC launched e-catering services which allowed passengers to order food from private restaurants online or through phone and have it delivered to their seats. IRCTC also manages air-conditioned waiting lounges, retiring rooms and budget hotels at major railway stations. IRCTC launched a bottled water brand "Rail Neer" in 2003, which is sold on trains and railway stations.

Train operations
IRCTC operates luxury trains such as Maharajas' Express, Deccan Odyssey and other special tourist trains with varied classes. These may include standard coaches, regular coaches with modifications and specially designed coaches with coupes, dedicated cabins and suites.

IRCTC also operates a few express trains in co-ordination with Indian Railways. In 2020, the IRCTC began operating the first private train, a Tejas Express from New Delhi to Lucknow. IRCTC also operates the Ahmedabad–Mumbai Central Tejas Express and Kashi Makahal Express.

Travel and insurance
IRCTC also organizes package tours for domestic and foreign tourists. IRCTC also enables booking of various services including hotel, flight, taxi, and food delivery in co-ordination with third parties through the platform.

IRCTC offers travel insurance for passengers through a third party insurer. In 2018, a security researcher reported that a free travel insurance scheme offered by IRCTC, which caused users on their app to be redirected to a third party insurer, had left the information of approximately 2 lakh passengers exposed for two years. In response, IRCTC discontinued the insurance scheme before fixing the vulnerability that had left this data exposed.

Others
In May 2020, the IRCTC made Aarogya Setu, an app launched by Government of India, to track Covid-19. In May 2020, the app was made mandatory for train travel. In June 2020, the government clarified that downloading the app was optional and not mandatory for train travel after a directive from the Karnataka High Court.

In 2018, IRCTC announced that it is exploring on ways to increase revenues through the utilization of passenger data. This raised concerns on sharing and safety of passenger data stored with IRCTC. During the 2020–2021 Indian farmers' protests, IRCTC officials used passenger e-mail data that had been provided to them to book tickets, in order to email pamphlets promoting Government welfare schemes and policies to Sikhs from Punjab. IRCTC officials denied that e-mails were selectively targeted at members of the Sikh community.

Patronage
As of December 2023, there are 66 million registered users with IRCTC with a daily average of 7.31 lakh tickets booked. IRCTC also enables various services in co-ordination with third parties where the same user data is shared.

In 2016, Maharashtra Police reported a potential leak of personal information relating to 10 million users registered with IRCTC. IRCTC set up a committee consisting of officials from the IRCTC and Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) to examine the report and declared that the data with IRCTC was safe and some data shared with third parties might have been leaked. In October 2020, passenger data of more than 9 lakh individuals surfaced in dark web with IRCTC denying the leak.