Booking a ticket through the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation(IRCTC) website is set to get easier and faster if the IRCTC's plans to set up a rolling deposit scheme (RDS) work out. Pradeep Kundu, joint general manager, public relations, IRCTC, said, "Under the scheme, a user can deposit money in advance with the IRCTC and use RDS from the available payment options on the IRCTC website for paying for their tickets." 

The IRCTC has proposed a one-time registration fee of around Rs 200-250 and a minimum deposit of around Rs 1,500-2,000 for the service. Users can top up their RDS account balance by using any of the available payment gateways and can also transfer money from their bank accounts to their IRCTC accounts and book tickets using that RDS account. The account can be managed and topped up online. The IRCTC claims that the RDS account system will be more efficient and advantageous as compared to transactions carried out through payment gateways of banks. 

Kundu said, "Currently, after a payment option is selected, customers are redirected to the payment gateway, where they enter their card details. Subsequently, they are redirected to either the Verified by Visa or Master Secure service, where they have to enter their password and validate the transaction. This entire process consumes a substantial amount of transaction time. 

"Very often, customers enter the wrong passwords and have to revalidate the transaction. When the customer is finally redirected to the IRCTC site, the session may have timed out and as a result the ticket would not have been booked." 

Kundu added, "Time can be saved by using an RDS account, as the entire transaction is internal and there is no dependency on a third party payment gateway." 

On August 5, TOI had reported about the high number of failed transactions while using the IRCTC website. The IRCTC had claimed that this happens due to reasons like wrong password, wrong card expiry date fed by the customer, expired card, insufficient funds in the customer's account, technical problem at the bank's end etc., over which it has no control. 

Kundu said, "The RDS mode of transaction system is faster, safer and easier. Users will not only save on payment gateway charges, but will also save precious booking time by eliminating payment approval cycle." Under the RDS system, the user's dependency on banks is reduced. Even if banks go offline, IRCTC users can book tickets using their RDS account. 

Key features of Rolling deposit scheme 

User authentication: Users of the rolling deposit scheme (RDS) will be verified and authenticated through online PAN card number verification 

Secure access: Users will have to provide transaction passwords/ PIN numbers for every booking done through RDS 

Complete history: Users will be able to check RDS transaction/payment history. They can also change the transaction password as and when required 

Easy refund: In case of ticket cancellation, the refund will be credited to the user's RDS account the next day. (Times of India)