IRCTC has integrated payments using the Interbank Mobile Payments Service, as per an email sent out by the company. IMPS allows real time payments between individuals, and has been working on integrating merchant payments so far, so an IRCTC integration comes as quite a significant development for the fledgling service, which has been struggling for traction, with low transaction numbers so far. The issue with IMPS, though, is that payments to IRCTC will still need a One Time Password to be generated. Banks that allow IMPS payment at present, as per the mail, include: 1. State Bank of India 2. Union Bank of India 3. Canara Bank 4. Kotak Mahindra Bank Note the absence of ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank, two of India's largest private sector banks. The process for booking a ticket using IMPS is as follows: 1. Go to IRCTC website at http://www.irctc.co.in 2. Login with your IRCTC account 3. Select From Station, To Station, Date of Travel, Ticket type, and Quota from the form provided 4. Select the Train from the list of options, and select coach class (first class, chair car, sleeper, etc) 5. The system will inform about ticket availability and an option to Book the ticket 6. Enter the passenger details (name, age, gender, berth preference), enter mobile number, and click ‘Go’ button 7. Confirm the details by clicking on ‘Make payment’ button 8. Select ‘IMPS’ payment option in the list of payment options (in the ‘Mobile/Net Banking’ tab) 9. The system shall redirect…
