Indian railways launched SMS-based ticketing with two dedicated numbers – 139 and 5676714.

The Service is not FREE.

The service is available to all mobile subscribers and Rs 3 is being charged per SMS and payment gateway charges are Rs 5 for ticket amount upto Rs 5,000 and Rs 10 for more than Rs 5,000.

Train Ticket booking through non-internet based mobile, launched as a pilot project by Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), to give improved customer service and empower the common man who does not have access to internet and cannot afford to buy smart phones.

As per the requirement, one has to register the mobile number with IRCTC as well as one’s bank. The bank provides MMID (Mobile Money Identifier) and OTP (one time password) for authorization of payment.

The passenger has to type the train number, destination, journey date, class and passenger details like name, age and gender on the SMS box.

The sender will receive transaction ID and then make payment through sending another SMS by typing PAY followed by the transaction ID, MMID as received from the bank and password and with this the passenger’s ticket is booked.