Reliance Communications has tied up with Intrex India, an end-to-end Trade Exchange of the Essel Group to allow Reliance Mobile Customers to book railway tickets through Reliance mobiles using ItzCash Card, available in denominations ranging from Rs. 100 up to Rs. 10,000 all across the country.

Customers who have registered either on IRCTC or on Reliance Mobile World will have to enter the user name and password to login. Once logged in, they have to enter their travel plan details, their ItzCash account number and its corresponding password. On submission these, the PNR number and ticket details are displayed once the booking is confirmed. Customers will get a screen on Reliance mobiles confirming the booking.

Mahesh Prasad—President Applications, Solutions and Content Group, Reliance Communications said, "Our association with IRCTC in their maiden initiative in April 2004 of offering a convenient way of booking train tickets through Reliance Mobile World has now been enhanced further with this tie up with Intrex India. Booking the railway tickets with ITZ cash cards will suit and help railway travelers across the country where credit/debit card penetration is fairly low".

Reliance Mobile customers can access Railway reservation through ITZ Cash card and credit cards by simply clicking on Reliance Mobile World >More Services >TravelnShop >Railways >Ticketing. Customers are charged Rs. 10 for using this service. Reliance customers can also check if the ticket is booked, by clicking on "Booked Tickets" in the main menu. The customer will receive SMS on the status of transaction as well as PNR alerts.

Easy menu-driven navigation of the application on Reliance Mobile World makes train ticket booking on Reliance Mobile a convenient option bringing Internet reservations to mobile phone users, without the need to look for PCs or the Internet connections. Customers can pick their travel destinations, class of travel, intermediary stops, without having to remember train numbers, station codes and reservation codes. With this new added feature, Railway travelers without the credit cards can avail this convenient service from their Reliance mobile phones.  

"On the IRCTC site we are consistently ranked 1st in the cash card preferred payment option by customers for train ticket bookings. The main aim of ItzCash Cards is to cater to that segment of people who either do not have access or are wary to use credit / debit cards to transact. Reliance Mobile World thus provides us an ideal opportunity to reach our target audience" observed Naveen Surya, Executive Director, Intrex India.

Reliance Communications has also hosted a suit of m-Commerce applications wherein customers can undertake banking transactions, pay their Mobile and electricity bills, book Airline tickets, cooking gas cylinders, track Speed Post and many such services. In addition to buying of railway tickets with ITZ cash cards, customers can also purchase Playwin lottery tickets and Pay Electricity bills with the same.

Reliance Communications introduced railway ticket booking on its mobile phones through its tie-up with Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) for the first time in the country in April 2004.