JTBS scheme a hit among passengers of Western Railways, Central Railways

Under the JTBS scheme, the Western Railway saw an increase of 130 per cent in earning contribution in 2016 in comparison with 2013. From around Rs 23 crore made through the ticket earnings in 2013-14, the WR was able to record an earning of almost Rs 49 crore up to July in 2015-16.

For Central Railway, out of the sale of two crore suburban tickets on a daily basis, the JTBS has contributed to almost 1,50,000 tickets up to June 2016. With this, the authorities confirmed that on a yearly basis, the JTBS was able to contribute to at least 15 per cent of the total ticket sale in 2015-16. It has comparatively reduced the load from the UTS (unreserved ticketing system) which contributed 49.81 per cent of the total ticket sale in the same year for the CR.

“The JTBS was implemented to reduce long queues observed at railway stations. Through this scheme, any regular commuter on the CR can book a ticket for himself from his locality without having to necessarily wait in queue at the railway station. This reduces waiting time and increases efficiency,” Ravinder Bhakar, Chief Public Relations Officer, Western Railway, said.

The scheme was introduced in 2008. A person can operate a JTBS centre in the marketplace (away from the railway station) with a minimum investment of Rs 1.5 lakh and an internet connection.

“The major reason why this scheme worked was because it allowed individuals to simultaneously handle ticket bookings along with their primary job. Even if the person is able to sell 1,000 tickets a day, an added one rupee to each ticket sold to one passenger helps him earn at least Rs 30,000 a month,” Narendra Patil, Chief Public Relations Officer, Central Railway said.

Till now, there are 282 JTBS centres on the Central Railway and 35 on the Western Railway.

What is JTBS?

Jan Sadharan Ticket Booking system (JTBS) allows an individual to set up a ticket-booking centre outside the railway premise, and charge one rupee extra on the ticket cost booked per passenger.

Under the JTBS, the individual can only sell unreserved tickets and not issue concessional tickets or renew seasonal tickets.

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The scheme was launched in 2008 to decrease queues in railway booking houses and also to generate employment among individuals.

After receiving poor response in 2010 for the scheme, it was relaunched from receiving service charge of one rupee per ticket to receiving charge per passenger.