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dna special: Will IRCTC guard against 'speed software' bookings?

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The detection of a novel railway ticket booking racket, running into crores, has put the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), which manages online bookings, in a spot.

What is this ticket racket?
Those involved in the racket use a specially created software that enables speedy booking of tickets within the first few minutes of the opening of booking.

The racket was discovered by the Railway Protection Force (RPF), who have arrested some of those involved, among them the man who developed the automation software.

Who developed the software?
Interrogation of some of those arrested led the RPF to Kulbir Singh, who developed the software. Singh, the RPF said, is a post-graduate in English who gives tuition when not making various kinds of software that help to circumvent lengthy government procedure.

Among those arrested are some travel agency owners and their accomplices. The RPF recovered e-tickets worth over Rs75 lakhs and expect that figure to be a lot higher as their investigations progress.

Why is the focus on IRCTC?
Serious questions are being asked about whether IRCTC has done enough to protect common travellers who are constantly at a disadvantage when booking tickets against the touts who are manipulating the system.

dna reported on Tuesday that it appears from the arrests made so far that the racket is spread wide.

Very often, tickets on a particular train are totally booked within the first minute itself. Now it's evident that this is largely due to the software that allows manipulators to books many more tickets within the time that an average passenger would book just one ticket.

What does the RPF say?
RPF officials investigating the case say that since IRCTC manages the website for tickets bookings it is its responsibility to provide safeguards against such manipulation.

"The fact that this software does not hack into the IRCTC server doesn't mean that IRCTC can wash its hands off the case. The fact is that a flaw in the system allows the use of such a software and this puts bonafide passengers at a loss," said a senior RPF official.

On Tuesday, some more agents were caught. The RPF said they had arrested Ramesh Jain, Bharat Shah, Sharukh Saharaf, Vipul Shah and Santosh Gaikwad and recovered tickets worth Rs4.6 lakh.

What is IRCTC's response?
Sunil Kumar, group general manager (information technology), said the battle is a tough one. "There are safeguards like one user can book only two tickets at a time. Then we have systems in place that check the mail ID, password, IP address to check if it is the same person trying multiple logins."

"Taking extreme steps like allowing a person to only book tickets for him/herself through the IRCTC website would mean keeping out a large number of people who are not tech-savvy. It must be remembered that 53 percent of all tickets are booked through the IRCTC website," Kumar told dna.

Kumar said the software used by the touts would be studied to work out an antidote. "It is something we are very serious about," he said.

Daily transactions on the website
Average number of tickets booked: 5 lakh
Number of tickets cancelled: 1.25 lakh
Number of logins: 18 lakh
Ratio of bookings online: 53 percent

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