Sir,

It is given to understand that Indian Railways has made a robust shift to digital transactions through e-ticket booking facility.

A passenger has the flexibility to book Rail tickets at ease through the IRCTC website and IRCTC mobile app. The e-ticket is delivered through SMS or email and acts as a valid authority with necessary id proof while travelling.

Further, many passengers still rely on the e-ticket printouts on physical paper and carry the same along with them while travelling. It is given to understand that facility to print e-tickets on paper is still optionally enabled, apart from the facility of SMS or email confirmations sent to the passengers. Thus, it is high time now to put a complete stop to the physical printing of e-tickets only for those users registered on the IRCTC web portal or mobile application.

Indian Railways should otherwise incentivise passengers to carry only SMS or email-based e-ticket confirmations along with valid id proof instead of the ill-conceived idea yet of printing physical e-tickets on paper. The suggestion will help Indian Railways to reduce its carbon footprint by encouraging passengers to go paper-free extensively while travelling on reserved tickets.

– Varun Dambal, Bengaluru, 29.5.2021

You can also mail us your views, opinions, and stories to [email protected]