Paytm, India’s largest mobile payment and commerce platform, has partnered with IRCTC to provide seamless booking of train tickets vial its app and website.
The Paytm wallet was already available as a payment option for IRCTC, and the integration of Paytm’s payment gateway was something that would not visibly affect most users. However, it now appears that there was more to the deal with IRCTC.
On Monday, Paytm announced that IRCTC tickets are now going to be available from Paytm’s app and website. The company noted that in recent months, it has seen huge growth in its travel marketplace, and stated that its bus ticket business has broken even, while flights bookings have been growing at a 4x rate month on month since launch in May. With the availability of rail tickets via IRCTC, Paytm hopes to become the biggest travel booking destination across categories.
The Indian travel market has seen exponential growth over the past many years. The Indian travel market is estimated to be worth $40 billion by 2020, according to an IBEF study. Paytm is determined to leverage the power of mobile to fuel this growth.
