Black-marketing train tickets back on tracks in Bihar

A special investigation by ETV Bharat has revealed that passengers in Patna railway station struggle to book the ticket waiting for hours at the railway counter as agents hoard reserved seats and sell them off at a premium.

Patna: With the railways gradually resuming train operations in Bihar after being suspended due to coronavirus-induced lockdown, there has been a spurt in black marketing and looting of ticket money at Patna railway station. A special investigation by ETV Bharat has found that the notorious black market of railway tickets roared back on track in Bihar causing inconvenience to the common people.

On one hand where the stranded passengers struggle to book the ticket waiting for hours at the railway counter, brokers and touts, on the other hand, hoard seat reservations and sell them off at a premium. The common man struggles with an overloaded booking portal, slow network and server whereas side-street agents steal the show.

The special investigation also revealed that station officers connive with agents and tickets are sold to the latter which are, in turn, sold to the consumers at a much higher price.

Local resident Ashok Sah said, "We have to face a lot of difficulties in getting railway tickets. We have to make several rounds to the ticket counter to get the ticket."

Cybercrime expert Abhinav Kumar said, "Tech-savvy side-street agents and touts hamper the traffic at various booking portals using various techniques. Adequate steps are taken to curb such crimes and to identify hackers who use different names and purchase the tickets."

Sources said that hackers, including unemployed IT graduates, use restricted software to hoard the railway tickets.

Kumar said, "Hackers hack Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) and other booking portals when common people try to book the tickets. Loopholes in the software make the task easier for hackers. Agents book various tickets under one name and sell it to customers at higher prices."

East Central Railway CPRO Rajesh Kumar said, "We are aware of such frauds and IRCTC application has been upgraded. We are continuously upgrading the application and I urge the passengers to use IRCTC. They should not be dependent on brokers."