All the details I had written about Tatkal in the comment section of my previous post was given by my dad..
Since the topic of discussion turned to Tatkal , thought I would get more info straight from the horse's mouth.
So, was waiting to catch hold of a TTE ( got the right abbreviation from him...stands for Travelling Ticket Examiner ) ..on the phone to get more details about Tatkal.
Basically it works on the principle of getting your work done at the last moment by shelling down extra bucks.
As I said earlier , it was introduced to help ppl get reservations at short notice..esp to help passengers travel in emergency situations.
There are a few things to be noted.
I think there is a general misconception that Tatkal tickets are premium ones...where one gets a preference over the regular reservation.
But the fact is that Tatkal tickets are reserved to be released only 6 days before the date of departure ( it used to be 24 hrs) .
Incase the general reservations are still available on these 6 days , then Tatkal is not released and one can get the regular ones at regular fares. There is no chance of fraud ( like holding reg. ones and releasing Tatkal as the system is computerised and a special receipt is issued for T.Tickets ) .
There are times when even the regular tickets are not sold out and the remaining seats are alloted by the TTE in the train.
Now coming to the main point ..is it serving the purpose?
well..very marginally as there are a few catches to the scheme...
1.Tatkal tickets can be taken only from point of departure to destination...so one cannot make reservations upto any stations in the middle.
2. Tatkal tickets cannot be cancelled..since its 6 days now, u get only 50% if cancelled before 24hrs of departure.
3. Lot of people dont even know that such a scheme exists.
As it is clear , the purpose of facilitating passengers travelling in emergency situations get reservation ,is not served now, b'cos the time has been extended to 6 days...and so even ppl who can wait for a few days but has more money power avail the scheme.
Releasing the quota before 24 hrs made much more sense.
But it is said that this 6 days system was introduced to deal with the peak summer season .
Lets hope Lallu introduces better schemes and travelling is made smoother and safer in future !!!
Bangalore ultimate masochist test
16 hours ago
18 comments:
Hello V, Bala and Pegasus.....
So V...
//If one can buy tickets at extra cost at the last moment, why aren't these tickets available for regular sale?//
I think you got the drift now..its not Tatkal tickects against the regular ones.
No one gets a preferential treatment here b'cos he can shell down more cash. But a few tickets are kept aside to be sold at a premium at a later date.
Bala....
//to get things done faster we are here forced to pay some extra money.....//
faster aa Bala... I think we can say its like u pay more to get things done even at a later date rt?
//So our mentality is, we are ready to pay extra money to get things done faster...that is where the corruption starts. :) //
That is very true..sometimes we dont want to wait and just want to get the work done faster....so we weigh the extra amount against the waiting time and decide . That's corruption for sure.
Sorry Bala..cld'nt get any info abt passport ,building plan approval etc..
as u said it may be there that this paying extra to avoid the wait works.
Pegasus...
I agree that bribes are 'speed money'..but as for me I bribe only for neccessity not to avoid minor inconvieniences.(ofcourse that's again a relative term ) :)
//it is "exclusion".... only those who know the railway TT or are confident that they can talk/bribe their way in get the last minute ticket...
while a simple man like me and u.... check the status of the tickets, and drop their plans.//
Let's face it , Pegasus..what wld the usual reaction be to fight such an injustice..do you really think the common tendency would be to walk away from the place dropping their plans and cursing their fate ?
Atleast insofar as Tatkal in Railway reservations are concerned it would not amount to 'speed money'.
//whenever u corner an individual and make sure that the only way he can survive is by giving/taking bribes compromising with his principles... a GURU is born //
This is exactly what's going on in our system...making mini or mega Gurus of all !
To all
Thanks for your comments :)
&
Have a great long week-end :)
my my this comment was larger than the post
Pegasus....
Yeah , Its a long one...did u get bored ?
But is'nt the content relevant to what is being discussed here....if there are some discrepancies in the previous comments...we tend to elaborate or write in the same style and mood of the preceding ones .
Dont you think it would be more fun if we discussed the contents of the comment than state what we think is the nature of the comment ?
what say you ? :)
Hi sree nice to see u around …… u seem to have your facts clear about Tatkal Scheme
. Even with the shot coming it has, when u combine it with the eticketing feature what u get is a journey than can be planed just a week ahead ( earlier that was one day which was definitely better ) and the best part is no waiting in the queue , or waiting on the reservation counter from 5 in the morning for a window that opens at 8 am . which was unthinkable few years back
well as someone who has used Tatkal scheme few times I will say its worth it .
Ennaanga sree adhukkulla adutha posta???(oho quarter adichitteeengala adhana ?:):)
weather alert mathiri unga postukkum alert set pannanum polaiyae.? :):)
its ur blog.... u do whatever u feel is the best... i am no authority on it.
but ya... since tatkal was gettign so much hyped... it makes perfect sense to uppgrade it to a post.
so how is the long weekend coming?
Hello JW...
So it took you so long to check your blog ,eh ?
Anyways, Welcome back !
Thanks, Pal ! the facts have to be right since I got it from a TTE.
Its great to be done away with queues :)
Thanks for your comment :)
Hey Bala...
// oho quarter adichitteeengala adhana ?:):)//
Ennabaa ipdee kettuteenga....oru second enna kekareenganney puriyala.. :P
Aamam , actulla quartera dhaandidichaa..I felt it has to stop :P lol
Aamam ,alarm epadeenga set pannaradhu ?
Thanks for ur comment Bala ! :)
Week-end plan enna ?
Hey Pegasus...
//i am no authority on it//
Neither am I !
The comment section belongs to all !
And ur opinion is always welcome , Pegasus :)
Mine was just a general suggession.
//so how is the long weekend coming?//
So far so good.....got some random movies...but not watched them yet..
How are the festivities going on in ur region ?
i do not celebrate Ugadi... any long weekend is a festivities for me.
Pegasus....
// any long weekend is a festivities for me. //
But ofcourse !!!
:)
Hey pegasus...wanted to say this in the previous comment...
thanks for the interest u showed in these posts..your comments were interesting read and helped me analyse the topic well :)
hey don't mention it... infact i should thank you.
i was real low last week.. and your blogs kept my mind occupied
Anytime, Pegasus !
I hope everything is fine now !
yappa oru four days evalo posts...:-)
//Travelling Ticket Examiner//
indru oru thagaval :-)
it doesn't make any sense to open tatkal quota 6 days before...:-)
Naataamai
//yappa oru four days evalo posts...:-) //
Ellam neenga vandha raasi..aana unga blog ga minja mudiyumaa 500 , 700 ellam paathu aaditten :P
//it doesn't make any sense to open tatkal quota 6 days before...:-) //
Their explanation is that there are more bogies now to meet the summer demand...and that they are hopeful that the tickets wld be available even 24 hrs before departure :)
Yup makes sense. Should be 2 days(48 hrs) max.
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