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Informist, Wednesday, May 27, 2026

 

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--IRCTC: No plan to hike internet ticketing convenience fee at the moment 
--CONTEXT: Comments by management of IRCTC in post-earnings analyst call 
--IRCTC: Will think of hiking ticketing convenience fee only if costs pinch 
--IRCTC: Internet ticketing convenience revenue INR 2.47 billion in Q4 
--IRCTC:Allowed electric cooking in pantry coaches to manage LPG shortage Q4 
--IRCTC: See catering revenue growth of around 15% YoY, going ahead 
--IRCTC:Expect to meet RBI's deadline of Aug for payment aggregator licence 

 

By Ashutosh Pati and Rajesh Gajra

 

MUMBAI – Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corp. Ltd. expects the catering and tourism segments to be the primary growth drivers for the company's top line in the coming quarters and years. It expects the catering business to grow around 15% year-on-year and the tourism segment to grow around 20% going ahead, the company's management said Wednesday at the post-earnings conference call with analysts and investors.

The company expects the revenue of its internet ticketing business to rise by around 10%. "We want to increase the non-convenience fee, and for that, we are already working on a unified portal," a top official said. For 2025-26 (Apr-Mar), IRCTC's revenue from catering rose around 13% and tourism increased over 19%. Its revenue from the Rail Neer business increased just over 3%, while the internet ticketing segment's sales grew by around 8%, according to the management.

 

IRCTC aspires to maintain an EBITDA margin of 30% in the long run, similar to the 31.95% margin it achieved in FY26. For the March quarter, the company's EBITDA margin was 27.3%. The March quarter margin for the tourism business improved to 16%, driven by a better product mix and cost rationalisation. However, the catering business margin was impacted by a higher sales contribution from train catering operations and pilot initiatives, such as branded catering projects, the management said.

IRCTC addressed the shortage of liquefied petroleum gas during the March quarter by allowing its vendors to cook meals using electricity in the pantry coaches of running trains, which already had the necessary safety facilities. "Secondly, at very big places, we have used electricity as a mode of induction cooking," the official said. IRCTC also tied up with all oil marketing companies to prioritise them in line with the Centre's directions.

The company is planning to add four Rail Neer plants and expand the two existing ones in the coming quarters. It is also trying to get into the hotel business. "... we are improving our infrastructure of e-ticketing to give convenience to our passengers... to make it more secure, we are putting money into that," the official said.

 

IRCTC's revenue from the internet ticketing convenience fees was INR 2.47 billion in the March quarter, the management said. The total internet ticketing segment revenue was INR 3.90 billion during the March quarter. The company has no plans to increase the convenience fees at the moment. "But of course, when it will pinch us, we will think about it," a top official said.

In the internet ticketing segment, 68.50 million tickets were booked in the air-conditioned class, while 65.40 million were booked in the non-AC class, bringing the total to 133.90 million, according to the management. IRCTC is confident of meeting the Reserve Bank of India's August deadline for submitting the final application for a payment aggregator licence. The company had received the in-principle approval from the RBI to operate as an online payment aggregator. 

 

For the March quarter, IRCTC reported a net profit of INR 3.27 billion, down around 9% on year. Its revenue rose over 15% on year to INR 14.60 billion for the quarter. Wednesday, shares of the company closed at INR 523.20 on the National Stock Exchange, down 2.6% from Tuesday.  End

 

Edited by Saji George Titus

 

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