Indian Railway Catering and Tourism or IRCTC offers the facility of online payment forbooking e-tickets via its e-wallet service. Under this service, users can deposit money in advance with IRCTC and later use it for paying money at the time of booking tickets, according to IRCTC’s official website- irctc.co.in. IRCTC e-wallet service can only be availed by users registered with Indian nationality and with Indian mobile number. The e-wallet users are verified and authenticated through their Permanent Account Number (PAN) or Aadhaar in an online verification process, according to the e-ticketing website. (Also read: How To Change Passenger’s Name In IRCTC E-Ticket)

Here are 5 things to know about IRCTC e-wallet service:

1. IRCTC charges a registration fee of Rs. 50 plus applicable taxes for availing the e-wallet service.

2. The transaction charge of Rs. 10 plus service tax per transaction is also applicable, according to IRCTC.

3. The maximum amount permitted in user’s IRCTC e-wallet account is Rs. 10,000.

4. No cash refunds is allowed in case of bookings done via IRCTC e-wallet. This balance can only be used for booking railway tickets.

5. In case of ticket cancellation, the due refund is credited to IRCTC e-wallet account next day itself, according to IRCTC’s website.

How to register and book tickets via IRCTC e-wallet service

1. Login to IRCTC with existing IRCTC user id and password

2. Click the ‘IRCTC e-wallet Registration’ link under IRCTC e-wallet section in the ‘Plan my travel’ page

3. Complete verification process by providing PAN or Aadhaar and other details

4. Deposit one time registration fee of Rs. 50 (excluding service tax) online with any of the available payment options

5. Credit the IRCTC e-wallet account with the minimum deposit of Rs. 100 and top up with the required booking amount

6. Pay ticket booking amount through IRCTC e-wallet which is displayed as payment option along with other banks

The Centre has told the National Green Tribunal that action plan for 37 railway stations which are to be developed as “eco-smart stations” will be implemented in three months.

The Centre told a bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel that nodal officers have been identified by the railway administration to oversee the implementation of environment management systems at the 37 stations.

“They will also act as regulators for environment norms and will have authority to lay down and collect compensation on ‘Polluter Pays” principle. They will be authorised to issue receipts for the compensation so recovered. This mechanism will be put on the website,” Additional Solicitor General Pinky Anand, appearing for the Railways, told the NGT.

Noting the submissions, the tribunal said that with regard to the next phase, action plans should be prepared for all the remaining major stations indicating phase-wise steps and categories of implementation.

“The action plans may have categories for number of stations for different phases but all the major stations should be covered within one year on the pattern of 37 major stations already identified.”

“We also expect that de-centralised municipal solid waste plants may be set up at the identified locations in terms of Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016. The Executive Director, Environment and Health Management (ENHM), Railway Headquarters, may compile the progress of execution of action plans periodically and also lay down adverse consequences for the nodal officers or others who fail to execute the action plans within the targeted timeline by way of entry into their annual reports,” the tribunal said.

It also said the Railway Board may also compile data of preparation of action plans for the remaining major stations within three months and furnish the same to the Central Pollution Control Board for analysis.

“If the CPCB finds that action plan has been duly implemented and selected railway stations are meeting the parameters of ISO 14001, such stations may be certified as eco-smart stations,” the tribunal said.

The green panel had earlier said there was an urgent need for the railways to put in place an effective implementation and monitoring mechanism with provisions of fixing accountability of individuals in respect of solid waste disposal, littering of solid and plastic wastes, defecation etc.

The NGT was hearing a petition filed by lawyers Saloni Singh and Arush Pathania seeking steps to check pollution on railway properties, particularly on tracks.

The Election Commission Tuesday called the railways approach towards enforcing the model code of conduct “lackadaisical” after allegations that poll norms were violated with Prime Minister Narendra Modi”s picture on tickets and the slogan “Main Bhi Chowkidar” on tea cups.

The poll panel has issued a notice to the railways, asking it to submit a report by Thursday on the slogan on tea cups, so that it can take a call on whether it was a poll code violation.

The issue came to the fore after a passenger on the Kathgodam Shatabdi tweeted a picture of tea cups with the slogan, the post went viral.

The railways said its has withdrawn the cup and penalised the contractor.

On the ticket issue, the EC has reprimanded the national transporter for not taking the code of conduct seriously.

“It has come to the notice of the commission that tea cups were provided to the passengers in the train of the Indian Railway by the NGO, namely “Sankalp”, which contained the political slogan of the Bharatiya Janata Party and such matter is closely related to violation of the Model Code of Conduct,” according to the notice.

“The commission, taking cognisance of the incident, has directed that the matter may be looked into immediately and a report may be furnished by 11:00 hours on April 4 that decision may be taken by the commission in the matter,” it said.

In a letter, over the image of PM Modi on train tickets, the poll panel criticised the railways for non-compliance of its instructions. On March 29, the poll panel had sent a notice to the national transporter on the issue.

The poll body said in response to the March 29 notice, the railways had asked for more time.

“The commission expresses its considered displeasure over the non-compliance of the commission”s instructions especially when the Model Code of Conduct is in force and the lackadaisical approach towards enforcing the Code.

“The commission has also decided that disciplinary action be taken against the officer in-charge and a report be submitted to the Election Commission within a week,” it said.

Sources in the railways, however, said the reply to the notice on the ticket issue had been sent to the EC on April 1 and it has complied with everything. “It was an inadvertent mistake,” a source said.

SILIGURI: 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the scheduled public rally here on April 3 at a ground belonging to the Railways, after the West Bengal government denied permission for the venue earlier sought by the BJP.

The new venue for the prime minister’s rally sits adjacent to the New Jalpaiguri Railway Station, BJP’s Darjeeling district president Avijit Roy Chowdhury said on Saturday.

“The local administration did not give permission for the venue we had earlier selected. Then, we looked for another ground and got permission for it,” BJP state president Dilip Ghosh said.

The BJP party had earlier selected a piece of land belonging to the Siliguri Jalpaiguri Development Authority (SJDA) in the state, which had denied consent for the PM’s rally.

“Earlier, too, similar incidents have happened when we were denied permission. But, the TMC cannot prevent BJP’s victory march by stopping us from holding rallies,” Mr Ghosh asserted.

PM Modi will address two back-to-back election rallies on April 3, the second public meeting slated at Kolkata’s Brigade Parade Ground

After alleged harassment by a manager at New Delhi’s Khanjawala Cluster Bus Depot, a 27-year-old bus conductor allegedly committed suicide by jumping in front of an oncoming train at the Ghewra railway crossing, the police said on Friday.

The body of Haridarshan, a resident of Nihal Vihar, was found lying on the tracks on Thursday with severe head injuries, they said.

In a suicide note, the deceased alleged that the manager of the depot had harassed him on many occasions and therefore, he was taking the extreme step.

The post-mortem was conducted on Friday at the Sabzi Mandi mortuary and the relatives will give a detailed complaint on Saturday after the cremation process, the police said.

According to Haridarshan’s family, he had joined the department three years ago and the manager was allegedly forcing him to achieve unrealistic targets, the police said.

They also claimed that the manager had threatened to sack Haridarshan if he failed to meet the targets, they added.

A train-checking party of the Guwahati GRPS recovered three gold pieces shaped like wheels of a trolley bag, weighing around 1,200 grams on at the city’s railway station on Thursday morning, railway police said.

A trolley bag was also found lying unclaimed at platform number one of the Guwahati Railway Station.

The items were handed over to the Customs Department.

Last week, police had seized $540,000 from two passengers at the station.

Rail Vikas Nigam Limited’s initial public offering (Rail Vikas Nigam IPO) began today and will last up to April 3. Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL), the wholly owned government company is a ‘Miniratna’ (Category – I) company incorporated by the ministry of Railways in 2003 as a project executing agency working for and on behalf of Ministry of Railways. Rail Vikas Nigam Limited was incorporated with the objective to undertake rail project development, mobilisation of financial resources and implementation of rail projects pertaining to strengthening of golden quadrilateral and port connectivity and raising of extra- budgetary resources for project execution, HDFC Securities said in an IPO note.

The object of the initial public offering (Rail Vikas Nigam IPO) is to carry out disinvestment of 12.12 per cent equity stake of government of India. A total of 25.34 crore equity shares of face value of Rs. 10 are being offered in the Rail Vikas Nigam IPO in a price band of Rs. 17-19 aggregating to the issue size of Rs. 430.87 crore – Rs. 481.57 crore.

Rail Vikas Nigam Limited’s total order book which includes laying new railway lines, doubling of tracks, gauge conversion, railway electrification, metropolitan transport projects, building workshops and bridge construction works as of December 31, 2018 stood at Rs. 77,504.28 crore.

RVNL works on a turnkey basis and undertake the full cycle of project development from conceptualization to commissioning and its major client is the Indian Railways. The other clients of the company include various central and state government ministries, departments, and public sector undertakings, HDFC Securities said.

Individuals interested in subscribing to the issue can do it by bidding in lot size of 780 equity shares per lot and in multiples thereof. A discount of Rs. 0.50 per share is being offered to RVNL’s employees and retail customers, HDFC Securities note said.

Rail Vikas Nigam Limited’s Financial Performance

In the first half of financial year 2018-19 Rail Vikas Nigam Limited reported net profit of Rs.253.62 crore on revenue from operations of Rs. 3,622.88 crore. In the full financial year 2017-18 it had reported net profit of Rs. 569.92 crore on revenue of Rs. 7,597.36 crore.

Key Concerns For Rail Vikas Nigam Limited

Upon the completion of this offer, the government of India will hold approximately 87.84 per cent of RVNL’s post-offer paid up equity share capital. Consequently, the President of India, acting through the ministry of Railways will continue to control it and will have the power to elect and remove directors and determine the outcome of most proposals for corporate action requiring approval of its Board or shareholders, such as proposed five-year plans, revenue budgets, capital expenditure, dividend policy, transactions with other government of India controlled companies.

Under the Companies Act, this will continue to be a public sector undertaking which is owned and controlled by the President of India. This may affect the decision making process in certain business and strategic decisions taken by the company going forward, HDFC Securities noted.

Raising another concern about RVNL, HDFC Securities said that, “RVNL has unsecured loans that may be recalled by the lenders at any time.”

RVNL has availed an unsecured loan from Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) which may be recalled by them at any time. While for payment of interest and principal on the borrowing from IRFC, ministry of Railways would make available to the Company the required funds, the debt servicing will only pass through RVNL books. In the event that any lender does not provide further funding to it, the Company would need to find alternative sources of financing, which may not be available on commercially reasonable terms, or at all, HDFC Securities note added.

Should You Invest In Rail Vikas Nigam IPO?

Canara Bank Securities in a note to its clients recommends subscribing to the stock in the Rail Vikas Nigam IPO. As of March 31, 2018, the company had an EPS of Rs. 2.73 and NAV of Rs. 18.83.

“The company would trade at 6.96 times price to earnings ratio and 1.01 times its price to book value for FY18 earnings. We believe that the stock is fairly priced. One may subscribe to the IPO for long term gains,” Canara Bank Securities said in a note.

“However, there is uncertainty with regard to change in the government policy to reconsider the practice of giving railway projects/works on nomination basis to RVNL or to give projects/works to CPSUs through limited competitive tenders. The outcome may have bearing on size of the future order flow and margins. Nevertheless, RVNL commands better bidding prospects due to the proven past record,” the IPO note added.

At the higher end of the price band of Rs. 19, the issue is priced at price to earnings of 7 times (post dilution) on FY18 and 7.8 times on H1FY19 (annualized) basis, which we believe is reasonable as compared to closely listed peer IRCON International that trades at price to earnings of 9.1 times on FY18 basis. As of 31 Dec’18, Centrum Wealth Research said in a note.

Given the government’s focus on rail infrastructure spends (Metro, Port-Rail Connectivity, electrification etc), healthy order book, asset light model and reasonable valuation, we suggest that investors can subscribe to the issue from a long term perspective, Centrum added in the note.