Indian Railways has been trying to increase its presence online
by offering food delivery to customers
directly on their seat, and partnering with some beverage chains to deliver fresh beverages.
Not only food, now passengers can also request coach cleaning on demand through an app.
In a bid
to improve its e-catering service and channelize more requests to its online
portal for food ordering, IRCTC has launched a scheme to offer 50% cash
back to all prepaid orders above Rs. 300. The cash back will be processed only
if the order has been placed through IRCTC’s website or the app ‘Food on Track’.
There are
a few conditions to this scheme as well. Firstly, the order must be prepaid to
be eligible for a cash back. The offer will stand null if the order is
partially or fully cancelled and the bill amount to reduced to less than Rs.
300.
AK
Manocha, Chairman and Managing Director at IRCTC, said, “IRCTC’s e-catering
facility, which has broad-based the culinary choices in a significant manner,
is now turning out to be a big hit with rail passengers. The 50 per cent cash
back offer will further induce passengers to patronise our e-catering
facility.”
The cash back will be processed
only after the delivery date to the account from which the transaction was
done. The customer will receive a notification for the refund amount as well.
AK
Manocha has targeted IRCTC’s growth at 15-20% in turnover over the next 5 years
and over 60% of the tickets booked today are booked online. Shifting the
catering business online by providing these incentives can see larger growth in
terms of catering as well as flexibility in food delivery.
IRCTC has
also planned to provide a better packaging service to its orders to communicate
hygiene, appeal and commitment to its customers. It was high time such a
decision was taken because we haven’t been hearing much good news from trains’
pantry compartment.
E-catering
service has only just begun and with Digital
India in full swing, we can see more passengers adopting it over regular
offline service at stations. It is also more convenient and provides cleaner
and tastier alternatives to the existing service in trains.
The cash
back offer is already live on the website. So, next time you are traveling in
Indian Railways, and want to order food, make sure you take advantage of this
offer
