The IRCTC experience

IRCTC- this was the website through which I did my first online transaction. There was a time, I would get up at 7.30, have my bath and sit at the computer to book tickets, as the reservation would start at 8. The internet connection was slow, so I was patient. Times have changed, internet speeds are off the charts, it makes me wonder why IRCTC still runs at the same speed it used to then!

For one thing their code is horrible.

Sometimes you book a ticket, and then, after the payment is successful (which takes very little time, considering I know my debit card details by heart and I also type very fast), it shows that the session has expired (that has happened multiple times). What kind of programming is this? At this point, I must mention that their refund process is pretty impressive, I have received refunds to all these failed transactions pretty quickly.

Why are the URLs so long? Isn't there any other way to make a website secure? I mean look at the banking sites, which are far smoother(and I bet more secure as well)! Because of those URLs, if you press refresh, or back, you are logged out! I mean why? Unless a payment is being processed, why is it illegal to press Back/Refresh?

I prefer booking railway tickets through Cleartrip(There's a downside though, no Tatkal tickets available). It would happen pretty smoothly until a few months ago, when IRCTC made a registration into IRCTC through these agent sites mandatory. So, I reluctantly registered. Since then, the Cleartrip part would work pretty well; however, the corresponding IRCTC account created was pathetic. I eventually realised that my security question got selected as 'What is the name of your first pet?'. I was startled because I have never had pets! After a few trial and errors, I came to know the answer to the question that they must have saved automatically is 'pet'.

The other day, Cleartrip was down, and I searched for trains through MakeMyTrip. They asked for my email and mobile number, which I provided. This led to my account being reset by IRCTC? (Technically, you must show that the details are clashing if they are!) Now, every time I book rail tickets through my Cleartrip account, they get failed because IRCTC reports my details have not been confirmed. #FML right?

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