Bhubaneswar: Ministry of Railways has decided to engage Station Ticket Booking Agents (STBAs) at small stations keeping in mind the safety related responsibilities of Assistant Station Masters (ASMs) who sell train tickets in these stations. In view of this decision, East Coast Railway (ECoR) has decided to engage Station Ticket Booking Agents (STBA) at NSG 5 & 6 categories of stations, according to a statement by the zone. The stations coming under NSG-5 & 6 categories are small stations.
According to ECoR, after engaging the STBAs, ASMs will be relieved of their ticket selling duties and will solely focus on train operations thereby ensuring better safety of passengers.
“These STBAs will get commission on the sale of unreserved tickets. The selected STBAs will sell unreserved tickets through computerized Unreserved Ticketing System (UTS),” said sources at ECoR.
The number of counters in a station for engaging STBA will be assessed by the Railway administration through a committee comprising officers from Commercial, Operating and Accounts Departments. ECoR will engage the STBAs from the residents of local block/tehsil in which these stations are located.
The computerized Unreserved Ticketing System (UTS) will be provided by the Railways along with maintenance facilities, electricity along with free space.
The STBA operator will be allowed to sell all types of non-concessional unreserved tickets through UTS, including Platform Tickets.
“Issuance of Senior Citizen Concession Tickets will also be done at the UTS counters operated by STBAs,” said the statement.
All other concessional tickets requiring documentary proof before issuing can also be issued by STBA after permission from the ASM concerned. Station Ticket Booking Agents are currently operating in 132 stations out of 233 NSG-5 & 6 stations under the zone.
Station Ticket Booking Agents may be engaged for other stations too. This will be carried out through an application process where applicants must be above 18 years of age and minimum educational qualification is Class X pass.