Source:https://www.news18.com/news/auto/digital-india-initiative-indian-railways-facilitates-digital-methods-of-transactions-for-purchase-of-food-items-at-stations-6017743.html
Publisher: Zee News
Indian Railways is encouraging the use of digital methods of transactions for purchase of food items through catering units at railway stations. This is being done to promote the initiative of Digital India. As many as 8878 static units are having the facility of digital payment, the Railways said in a statement.
For the convenience of the customers, handheld PoS machines have been provided at catering units to generate printed bills and invoices reflecting all details of transactions undertaken and to address the complaints of overcharging.
According to the Railway Ministry, 3081 POS machines are available on 596 trains and 4316 static units have been provided with POS machines.
To provide a wide range of options to passengers in trains, e-catering services have been introduced on Indian Railways. It is worth noting that the service is currently available at 310 railway stations through 1,755 service providers and 14 food aggregators, supplying an average number of 41,844 meals per day.
“For widening the range of options available to passengers in trains, E-Catering Services have been introduced on Indian Railways. E-catering services are managed by the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC). Passengers can pre-order meals of their choice at the time of booking of e-ticket or while travelling on train using App, Call Centre, website or by calling 1323,” the ministry said in its statement.
Indian Railways has also been working to reduce the unit cost of logistics. Moreover, rail infrastructure projects related with Railway tracks have been given a big push. Progress of Railway track projects i.e. New Lines, Gauge conversion and multi-tracking (doubling/tripling) has also shot up vis-a-vis last year.
During this Financial Year till September 21 2022, Railways has completed 1353 track Kilometres (TKM) of New lines, Gauge conversion and multi tracking projects. A visible transformation can be seen in the rail infrastructure across the country. There is a clear trend in which Indian Railways is working to make the rail infrastructure more passenger-friendly.
