Indian Railways on Friday launched SMS-based ticketing system to tackle the rush at the booking counters. 

Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) launched the ticket booking which can be done through non-internet based mobile.

Government is hoping that this new system will help overcome the menace of touts who fleece unsuspecting people.

But have you tried to book the ticket by SMS? Here’s five easy ways that will help you book a ticket by using your ordinary mobile phone.

First: Register your mobile number with your bank. The bank will provide a mobile money Identifier (MMId) and one-time password (OTP) for authorization of payment. 

Second: After getting the MMid and OTP, now you can book your ticket. For booking, type an SMS with all your travel details like train number, date of journey, boarding station and destination and Class of travel, besides name, age and gender of the passenger. The SMS should be sent to 139 or 5676714. 

Third: On receiving the SMS, the IRCTC will send a transaction ID. The passenger has to reply to the SMS with PAY followed by the transaction ID and the bank password (OTP). 

Fourth: This confirms booking and the ticket amount will be deducted from your bank account. 

Fifth: On successful booking of ticket, a message will be sent to the user by IRCTC which will be sufficient as the valid travel document along with photo ID card in original. 

Please check the IRCTC link for further queries like seat availability, Schedule, time table, PNR status

NOTE: 

First: The SMS scheme will not be available during 8 am-12 pm for booking ARP/tatkal/general tickets.

Second: There will be no need for internet at any stage - booking, payment, cancellation etc. (Zee News)