IITian creates apps for fast rly booking, held

IITian creates apps for fast rly booking, held

Users Could Get Confirmed Train Seats, Even Under Tatkal, For A Fee

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: 25.10.2020  

What a tardy IRCTC website could not do, an enterprising IIT Kharagpur postgraduate did and has landed in jail. Tirupur native S Yuvarajaa, who created android-based apps ‘Super Tatkal’ and ‘Super Tatkal Pro’ — lightning fast methods of booking confirmed tickets — was arrested because he had bypassed the railway system to offer an online platform for passengers, in return for payments through a ‘coin’ system.

Sources said Yuvarajaa, who graduated from Anna University, created the apps in 2016 when he found a slow IRCTC website made it difficult for people to book confirmed tickets. The apps became so popular that they garnered around one lakh end-users in a short time but have since been taken down from the app store.

The Cyber Cell of Railway Protection Force (RPF) in Chennai tracked him down using server source code, application source code, end-users list and his bank statements.

The apps were available at the android app store for download for a fee. People had to purchase a coin pack (10 coins worth ₹20) which was pre-paid. After each booking, five coins were deducted from the coins balance. The payment for both apps was through Instamojo gateway that credited money to Yuvarajaa’s bank account.

Southern Railway principal chief security commissioner Birendra Kumar said, “He created a software to book tickets faster and he was not even an authorised agent of IRCTC.” Bypassing the railway system and making money illegally was the crime, he added.

The speed of the application enabled customers to obtain confirmed tatkal e-tickets.

RPF has registered a case under section 143 (2) of the Railways Act (penalty for unauthorised carrying on of business of procuring and supplying of railway tickets).

In another incident in which software was used, RPF had arrested the employee of an agency in Vellore for using an auto-fill software to buy railway tickets faster before genuine passengers could login and key in details.

In both cases, many people using IRCTC site were deprived of a chance to buy tickets, said an RPF official.

Tirupur native S Yuvarajaa was arrested for bypassing the railway system and making money illegally, Southern Railway principal chief security commissioner Birendra Kumar said