## IRCTC in Talks with ONDC for Ticket Booking Services
The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is exploring a partnership with the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) to allow the latter to offer ticket booking services to customers. This collaboration could initially focus on bus booking services provided by IRCTC, according to a senior railway official.
The blueprint for this collaboration is still under development, but IRCTC CMD S.K. Jain has confirmed discussions with ONDC regarding bus and ticket booking integration. While a timeline for the formal announcement remains unclear, the potential partnership holds significant promise.
The IRCTC Rail Connect app boasts over 100 million downloads and offers booking services for trains, flights, buses, and hotels. Despite the shift back to pre-pandemic ticketing patterns, IRCTC continues to sell approximately 460 million tickets online annually.
Recent developments include a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between cab-hailing aggregator Uber and ONDC to explore mobility service integration. ONDC's MD and CEO, T Koshy, has emphasized the platform's continuous evolution and the critical role of the Mobility, Transport, and Travel (MTT) sector.
Furthermore, several mobility players like Kochi Metro, Chennai Metro, and RedBus have already integrated with ONDC, demonstrating the platform's growing adoption within the transportation industry.