Railways Building Super App, No Clarity On Launch

SUMMARY

The “super app“ will allow users to book unreserved tickets, file complaints and check availability of trains and their schedule

It is still not clear when the super app will be launched for public use

This move by the railway ministry comes at a time when many fintech giants are going the “super App” way to increase engagement among customers

Three months after first announcing that a “super app” for train-related services was in the works, Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has now shed more light on the new service.

Responding to a question in the Parliament, Vaishnaw confirmed that the ministry is working on a “super app“ which will allow users to book unreserved tickets, file complaints and check availability of trains and their schedule.

“Indian Railways is developing a passenger service focussed app. Passengers will be able to avail unreserved ticketing, lodge complaints, check train availability and many more functions in a single app,” Vaishnaw said.

The union minister was responding to queries from Telugu Desam Party (TDP) Members of Parliament (MP), BK Parthasarathi and Bastipati Nagaraju. While the two MPs sought clarity on the timeline of the launch and the cost of developing the app, Vaishnaw did not divulge any details on the matter.

This comes three months after Vaishnaw, in September, said that a railway passenger-focussed super app was being developed without elaborating much on it. At the time, media reports speculated that the super app would be developed by the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) and would have services such as ticket booking, train status, parcel shipment booking, cab services and so on.

It has also been reported that the app will have a B2B segment, enabling logistics companies to book freight.

Meanwhile, it still remains unclear when the app will be launched. Previous reports had put the timeline within 100 days of the swearing-in ceremony of the new government but the supposed deadline expired in mid-September.

Notably, the Railways Ministry’s move to launch a “one-stop-shop platform” for everything comes at a time when many players in the startup ecosystem are moving towards the idea of super apps. Fintech giants such as PhonePe, CRED and Groww have already launched a number of new offerings and clubbed it in a single app.