However, scores of people have raised questioned on this service and have said that forget about offering convenience, the app was more likely to raise the users’ blood pressure levels due to largescale glitches. While the scheme was started four years ago, it failed to catch on among passengers except in Mumbai, where it was first launched because a large number of people travel in locals, reported PTI. After Mumbai, it was started in Delhi-Palwal and Chennai city. As of now, the railway has already implemented the scheme in 15 of its zones with the Northereast Frontier Railway and West Central Railway being the remaining two zones.
In the last four years, there were around 45 lakh registered users of this app with around 87,000 tickets being bought per day on it on average, according to the official. The railways earns around Rs 45 lakh per day through the online sale of such unreserved tickets, the official added. Here's how this app works-
• A passenger needs to be around 25-30 metres away from the station to avail the application
• The passenger is allowed to book only four tickets at a time through the app
• Besides buying tickets on the app, a registered user can also platform tickets and monthly passes
• The scheme is also open for those who want to buy tickets for travelling long distance
• UTS mobile app available on Android and Windows smartphones
• To make payments, Debit cards or credit cards, net banking or other electronic payment methods can be used
A senior railways official was quoted by PTI as saying, "We have been trying to engage people to encourage them to use the UTS mobile application more and more. The numbers are growing and we are hopeful that once passengers understand the benefits of this app, they will buy their tickets online." "With certain zones not being a part of the app, a lot of passengers were unable to use it. Any station intersecting these zones was left out of the app. From November 1, it will be available across India," official added.