The digital payment solution company, ‘ePayLater’ witnessed around 15 per cent increase in train ticket booking during the month of October via its product, ‘Buy Now, Pay Later,’ running at the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation’s (IRCTC) online portal.
The company had tied up with IRCTC in 2018, in order to provide their specialized services to the customers. The government recognised startup offers frequent online purchasers to buy interest-free tickets for a period of 14 days.
“From October onwards, ePayLater has seen about 10-15per cent increase in the number of IRCTC bookings compared to the non-festive period during the year,” the data stated.
The ticket booking pattern showed that people from Delhi were traveling to nearby towns like Muzaffarpur, Lucknow and shorter distances like Secunderabad to Visakhapatnam, Puri to Howrah, Erode—indicative of the fact that people were headed towards their hometowns for festivities.
The data further showed that the majority of the train bookings were made during the month of September with 55 per cent, followed by July-August (20 per cent).
Like any other credit services that allow you to buy and pay later, ePayLater, lets the traveler buy his train tickets on credit. The traveler would have to pay 3.50 per cent as charges, plus applicable taxes. Failure to repay the payment in mentioned 14-day period would lead to levy of penal interest at the rate of 36 per cent per annum. It may also lead to the deactivation of the user’s account.