Challenges of online ticketing in Bangladesh railway services

Under the dynamic leadership of the current government and with the blessings of information and communication technology (ICT), Bangladesh has made commendable progress in the transportation and communication sectors, especially in railway services, in the last decade. After starting its journey on November 15, 1862, during the British era, Bangladesh Railway is now providing the most reliable transportation services to all inhabitants.

Since rail is a crucial medium of inland transportation, the robust expansion of Bangladesh's railway services undoubtedly helps spur the country's economic development. The operation and upkeep of the nation's complete railway network are handled by Bangladesh Railway (BR). In this regard, recent statistics reveal that over the 2955.53-kilometer railway line, more than 3.5 lakh people now enjoy the railway services daily, while 484 railway stations and 368 passenger trains (inter-city, mail, express, commuter, shuttle, etc.) are operating with modern coaches.

In addition, Bangladesh Railways' infrastructure development from 2009 to the present is laudable. Bangladesh Railway has built 330.15 km of new rail lines, 91 station structures, and 295 bridges, and converted 248.50 km of existing rail lines into dual gauge tracks since 2009. Besides, rehabilitated railroad infrastructure includes 1,335.23 km of track, 644 bridges, 177 station structures, 430 passenger coaches, and 277 wagons. Apart from this, one of the most notable accomplishments of the Bangladesh Railway is the opening of the Metro Rail in the heart of Dhaka.

Moreover, Bangladesh Railways have implemented several innovative initiatives over the past decade, including a fiber optic cable-based integrated telecommunications system, e-ticketing, smart cards for metro rail ticketing, upgraded locomotives, coaches, and other rolling stock, a modernized signaling and interlocking system, the Bangladesh Railway Telecon system, etc.

However, around 41% of passengers on the Bangladesh Railway are carried by intercity trains, which are estimated to provide 84% of the overall revenue from passenger traffic, according to the Bangladesh Railway Company, DLCA (2021).In contrast, other statistics indicate that despite an average of 79% ticket sales, the number of passengers exceeds the number of available seats.

Even though Bangladesh Railway services have grown and gained significant public attention in the areas of communication and transportation, black ticketing through the use of an online platform is now the talk of the town. Many people often buy train tickets from a black marketer (commonly known as a blacker) at a high price when they can't get tickets at the counter or online, which ultimately reduces the revenue of the government and increases the suffering of the users over time.

Currently, a premium online travel service provider named Shohoz (shohoz.com) is jointly working with Bangladesh Railways to provide online tickets that are designed to facilitate long-distance travel in Bangladesh easy and convenient. Using its (Shohoz) own system, Shohoz currently sells 50% of tickets online, charging 25% VAT. Besides, the remaining 50% of tickets are sold offline at train stations, where a 15% VAT is charged.

It is undoubtedly true that Shohoz provides its services professionally, but the problem is its loopholes. By signing up on the site, any user with a NID card (number only) can purchase a maximum of four online tickets. There is no authentication procedure (neither a picture of the user nor a soft- or hard copy of the NID card is needed) to validate the identity of users who registered or logged in to buy tickets.
Hence, black marketers may simply get access to the server and buy a large number of tickets by using different NID cards. As a consequence, the majority of the time, even after visiting the website far earlier, the general public was unable to buy online tickets. Recent statistics reveal that around 49.6% of railway service recipients were dissatisfied with online ticket purchases due to black marketers' activities and server difficulties.

It is worth mentioning that Tk 60,000 crore has been spent on railway development in the last ten years, and senior officials are often quite busy accepting and carrying out new projects, but there are no longer any eye-catching measures in place to prevent illegal ticket sales promotion. The most recent fiscal year (2021-22) reveals that Bangladesh Railways' expenditure was Tk 5,500 crore while it only made Tk 1,100 crore in revenue. Bangladesh Railways thus experiences unforeseen losses every year.

In this vein, the subsequent measures can be effective with a view to preventing illegal ticket sales activities and reducing the unforeseen losses of Bangladesh Railways. First, the online ticket purchasing site (shohoz.com or others that jointly work with Bangladesh Railways) should be updated so that it can verify the person who actually purchased the online tickets.

Second, the verification procedure should mandate the use of the NID card and a selfie picture of the user for the server to assure robust verification. Third, the maximum number of online ticket purchases should be restricted to two to deter the black propensity to buy illegal tickets. Fourth, robust legislation against black ticketing operations should be implemented to ensure that no one engages in black ticketing activities.

Last but not least, public awareness should be raised against black ticketing activities by arranging innovative campaigns on different platforms, including electronic and print media, social media, websites, etc. Apart from those, the Ministry of Railways and the concerned authority should take appropriate measures to address the issues of online ticketing in smart railway services in Bangladesh.