When booking tickets online through the railway system, it is common for money to be deducted even if a confirmed ticket is not obtained. This issue frequently occurs, particularly for those booking Tatkal or waitlist tickets.
However, there is a solution available on the IRCTC website and app whereby payment is deducted only upon successful booking of a confirmed ticket. With this feature, there is no need to wait 3-4 days for a refund if the ticket is not confirmed; the refund is processed immediately.
Indian Railways offers a convenient system for booking e-tickets without upfront payment. This option is exclusively available through the iPay payment gateway provided by IRCTC and is known as ‘Autopay.’
The ‘Autopay’ feature, integrated with the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited’s (IRCTC) iPay payment gateway, supports various payment methods including Unified Payment Interface (UPI), credit cards, and debit cards.
According to the IRCTC website, “Payment will only be deducted from the user’s bank account once the system generates a PNR for the railway tickets.”