70% of train tickets booked on Paytm are from Tier-II and III cities

Ahmedabad, Kanpur, Chandigarh, Varanasi, and Allahabad come out as 5 top Tier-II, Tier-III markets

Recent data by Paytm show that more than 70 per cent of all train tickets booked on Paytm over the past year is from Tier-II and Tier-III cities, in a sign of the increasing reach of digital transactions in non-metro regions after demonetisation.

The study was conducted based data from more than two million rail tickets booked on Paytm over the past year. It was found that while the average ticket size in Tier-I cities is Rs 530, in Tier-II cities it is only Rs 350, pointing at semi-urban and rural India’s price sensitivity. Interestingly, 70 per cent of women booked their train tickets more than a week in advance, while the same was applicable for a mere 30 per cent of men.

"In recent months, Paytm has witnessed exponential growth in travel with more than 10 million tickets sold in financial year 2017. Our five biggest Tier-II and Tier-III markets are Ahmedabad, Kanpur, Chandigarh, Varanasi, and Allahabad. This year, the company is aiming to be the country’s largest destination for all travel booking needs," the report said. Paytm is the first horizontal e-commerce major to enter into the travel business, a domain that was dominated by vertical players.

Paytm Vice-President Abhishek Rajan said, "At Paytm, we are committed to enabling the most convenient rail booking experience for our users across India, along with customer-centric features like instant refunds, availability alerts and exciting offers like zero service charge and payment gateway fee waiver. Our goal is to make the rail booking process extremely simple and more accessible for every Indian."

The top preferred routes by passengers this summer, according to the report, include New Delhi–Lucknow, Visakhapatnam–Secunderabad, New Delhi–Kanpur, Chennai–Bengaluru, Ahmedabad–Surat, and Pune–Solapur.

Paytm claims that it is currently India's largest player for e-ticket bookings for trains after IRCTC. "Our focus on user experience has put us on track to achieve our goal of expanding our train ticketing business by three times this year. We will continue to drive product innovation to increase user traction," the company said. 

On the right track

• The five biggest Tier-II and Tier-III markets are Ahmedabad, Kanpur, Chandigarh, Varanasi, and Allahabad 

• The average ticket size in Tier-I cities is Rs 530, while in Tier-II its only Rs 350, pointing at semi-urban and rural India’s price sensitivity

• Seventy per cent of women booked their train tickets more than a week in advance, while the same was applicable for a mere 30 per cent of men

• In recent months, Paytm has witnessed exponential growth in travel with more than 10 million tickets sold in FY17

• The top preferred routes by passengers this summer include New Delhi–Lucknow, Visakhapatnam–Secunderabad, New Delhi–Kanpur, Chennai–Bengaluru, Ahmedabad–Surat and Pune–Solapur.