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Wallet scheme to address the problem of failed transactions. However, this scheme has been kept optional and under the scheme many unfair conditions including payment of transaction fee has been imposed.

(ii) The service charge imposed on e-Tickets is non-refundable, even if the passenger needs to cancel the ticket. The service charge is an extra-burden on the passenger over and above the cancelation charges imposed as per Railway rules.

(iii) In case of tickets booked through internet, no concession is permitted except for senior citizens. Reservation of tickets with break journey is not allowed for e-Tickets. Maximum of 10 tickets can only be booked per month.

91. Further, the Commission notes that the Informants have erroneously drawn references to NEFT transaction charges as IRCTC does not offer NEFT as a payment gateway on account of the restrictions on transfer of funds in non-banking hours.

92. In view of the above, the Commission rejects the allegations put forth by the Informants relating to levy of payment gateway charges.

E-Wallet Scheme

93. The Informant also laid challenge to the e-wallet scheme introduced by IRCTC. It was alleged that the e-Wallet scheme, launched to address the problem of failed transactions, is based on unfair pricing and conditions in contravention of Competition Law. It was alleged that IRCTC has found this as a new mode of revenue generation. Under this scheme, registration fee is Rs. 250/- (one time) and transaction charges are Rs. 5/- (per transaction). Maximum value that can be stored in e-Wallet is Rs. 5000/- which is subject to no cash refund and redemption. It was also pointed out that the scheme is not available during 8 am to 12 pm and any amount transferred erroneously by the customer is not refunded.

94. The DG did not find any contravention.

95. From the DG report, it may be observed that e-wallet Scheme was launched by IRCTC in February 2014, in the interest of its subscribers/ customers, to make the payment process fast and to reduce transaction failures due to bank payment related problems. Under this scheme, user can deposit money in advance with IRCTC which can be used as a payment option, along with the other online payment gateway options available on IRCTC website. This is a voluntary option provided on the demand of IRCTC subscribers to reduce the time taken in the process of effecting online payment through other normal payment gateways provided by the banks, which some time fail due to technical reasons. Noticeably, in case of any ticket cancellation, the due refund is credited to the e-wallet account the very next day. A user has to pay a nominal one time registration charges of Rs. 250 under this scheme. User can deposit minimum amount of Rs. 100/- and maintain maximum amount of Rs.10000/- in the e-wallet account. As per the policy of the Railway Board, there is a time restriction on individual subscribers for the bookings made through e-wallet Scheme and the booking is not available from 8:00 am to 12:00 pm. For this additional service, IRCTC charges a transaction charges of Rs. 5/- per transaction. The e-wallet scheme is stated to gain popularity and as on April 07, 2014, around 32,000 users are stated to have registered for the e-wallet scheme.

96. E-wallet scheme is a closed system pre-payment instrument. Being a closed system payment, the amount credited to e-wallet can be used only for services available at IRCTC website and not for any other purpose. Further, as per guidelines of RBI, such instrument does not permit any redemption or cash withdrawal. The scheme is entirely a voluntary option, the main advantage being a near guaranteed successful booking as it bypasses problem of failed gateway transactions involving banks. It was also informed that the scheme has been very popular and from 41 users at the time of launch in August 2012 till date there are 43031 registered users. In respect of the reason why no booking between 8 am to 12 pm is permitted using e-wallet, it was informed that the same has been stipulated as per directions of Railway Board dated 04.03.2014.