Mumbai: In a bid to promote cashless transactions, the Railway Board in a circular dated June 30 has requested all Zonal Railways to provide a discount of 0.5% till September 30 to suburban passengers making digital payments to buy season tickets.
The Railways had recently declared that season passes for first-class tickets on suburban local trains would increase by 0.5% from July 1 as the service tax of 4.5% would be replaced by the new GST rate of 5%.
Authorities have now equipped all booking counters at railway stations with point of sale machines to accept digital transactions. A senior Western Railway official said, “The discount will be applicable only on digital payments. CRIS and IRCTC have been asked to make necessary changes in the software.” The discount of 0.5% will be applicable on digital purchase of season tickets (monthly, quarterly, half-yearly and yearly). Sunil Udasi, chief PRO, Central Railway, said, “The move is aimed at giving a much desired boost to cashless transactions.”
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A railway official said the three-month exemption on the GST rate provided to customers using digital means to buy season tickets would give officials more time to develop and upgrade the software to impose the new 5% tax on tickets. “The staff will now get more time to sort out pending work to apply the new tax rate on suburban railway tickets.”