Express News Service
CHENNAI: In a move to encourage cashless payment, the Railways has extended the 5 per cent discount on the base fare of reserved tickets for payment made through the Unified Payment Interface (UPI) including BHIM application till June 13 next year.
Sources from the Southern Railway told Express that passengers who choose to make the payments through Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM) mobile app that functions on UPI method, can avail five per cent discount on the base fare of total ticket fare.“For example, for a base fare of `1,000, passengers can get a discount of `50.
The offer is applicable only for booking the tickets at counters, not for online tickets,” explained an official. Aiming at reducing the risk of cash handling at ticket counters, the Railways has begun to introduce Point of Sale machines at select stations to enable the payments through debit and credit cards since December 2016.
A few months later, the national transporter extended the facility of paying the tickets through BHIM app developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), an umbrella organisation for retail payment system in India.The BHIM app functions on the Unified Payment Interface (UPI) that powers the multiple banks accounts into a single mobile application and provides several banking features including money transfer.
On the procedures for making the payment through BHIM, official railway sources said passengers who have signed up for UPI payments with their banks will get 20 digit alphanumeric virtual payment address (VPA). Despite its obvious advantage, 5 per cent discount for payments through BHIM application introduced in March 2018 is yet to reach many passengers and, as result, the Railways has extended the discount period for the benefit of passengers.
Short file
Five per cent discount on base fare of reservation tickets booked at counters, if payment is made through BHIM app
Unified Payment Interface (UPI) powers the multiple banks accounts into a single mobile application
Passengers to sign up
for UPI payments
with their banks and get 20 digit alpha numeric Virtual Payment address
Fill VPA at reservation slip to make payment for tickets
Passengers had to approve the payment from her/his mobile
For a base fare of `1,000, passenger can avail discount of `50, Valid till June 13, 2019
