Paytm's Travel business witnessed more than three times growth in the in the financial year 2017-18
Paytm has upgraded its online train ticket booking experience by waiving off all transaction charges as well as the payment gateway and service charges on train ticket bookings through its platform. With the latest development, Paytm users can book their train tickets without paying any additional charges. The platform owned by Noida-based One97 Communications also allows users to check PNR status of their trains and apply for an "instant refund" on cancellations of their existing bookings. The new move comes weeks after Paytm arch-rival PhonePe announced its partnership with Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) to offer a micro-app on its platform to let users easily book their train tickets.
Until October this year, Paytm was charging a Payment Gateway fee that was equivalent to 1.8 percent of the total order value on train ticket bookings. This alongside other additional charges has now been waived off by the company. "The move is targeted to encourage more travellers to adopt online as a cost-effective and hassle-free channel for booking train tickets," said Paytm Vice President Abhishek Rajan in a press statement.
In addition to enabling ticket bookings, Paytm offers a way to check live PNR status and apply for an instant refund for cancellations. Frequent travellers can make repeat their previous bookings without having to fill in the same information repeatedly.
Last year, Paytm claimed that it witnessed more than three times growth in its Travel business with more than 38 million tickets sold in the financial year 2017-2018. The platform also doubled its travel customer base to nine million. Notably, the Travel vertical at Paytm is based out of Bengaluru with a headcount of 300.
Indian Railways arm IRCTC is offering travellers with a platform to book tickets without any additional charges for some time. However, there is a limit of bookings up to Rs. 1,00,000 to avail the zero additional charge benefits.
Disclosure: Paytm's parent company One97 is an investor in Gadgets 360.
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