IRCTC not selling user data, reports 'totally fictitious': Official

The Indian Railways Catering & Tourism Corporation Limited (IRCTC) has dismissed media reports claiming it is planning to monetise passenger and freight customer data.

Several reports suggested the objective behind the same was to generate revenue up to ₹1,000 crore.

The reports did rounds on social media platforms and received backlash from those advocating digital rights.

A senior official at the IRCTC claimed that the media reports were totally fictitious and that the company does not sell its data and there is no intention to do such things, sources reported .

The official also said that IRCTC does not store any financial data of its customers on its system server, as at the time of online payment for its various services, control is passed on to the respective Payment Gateway or bank for the payment.

Reports had further claimed that a consultant of international repute was expected to study the data of passenger, freight and parcel business as well as any vendor-related data from applications of Indian Railways. 

The IRCTC official rejected the claims and said that consultants were being hired to improve existing businesses and advise on new business lines which can be adopted by IRCTC and Indian Railways in near future.