PTI file photo of Indian railways used for represenational purpose only.
PTI file photo of Indian railways used for represenational purpose only.

Railways invites ideas to generate revenue without hike in fares

To increase its non-fare revenue (NFR), Indian Railways has now decided to crowdsource new and innovative ideas for improving passenger convenience and earning revenue from its strong workforce of nea

NEW DELHI: To increase its non-fare revenue (NFR), Indian Railways has now decided to crowdsource new and innovative ideas for improving passenger convenience and earning revenue from its strong workforce of nearly 13 lakh staff.

In January 2017, the Railways had launched NFR policy aiming to earn extra revenue without increasing the fare. The policy was expected to bring an additional revenue of `2,000 crore annually. Among other things, it involved Railway Display Network advertising in trains, bridges and other assets, ATMs at railway platforms and digital content for passengers. But the efforts have failed to yield desired results.
In its latest efforts, the ministry has now formulated a ‘New, Innovative Non Fare Revenue Ideas Scheme’ (NINFRIS).

The focus of the scheme, which shall be based on division level, will be on new and innovative ideas, concepts, proposals, ideas and themes that have not been tested before and has the potential to enhance NFR earnings.

The policy specified that the divisional railway managers (DRMs) of the divisions shall have full powers for executing the innovative ideas for NFR generation provided while stipulating that the projects being taken under this scheme should not infringe upon any other NFR policies. The tenure for such projects shall be one year, but can be extended by one more year.

Interestingly, the policy holds that to promote non-serious ideas, each proposal should be accompanied by a token non-refundable application fee of `1,000. Submitting an idea would not give the person who ideated it an exclusive right on implementation of the same. It further said that the projects finalised may be executed directly by the railways.

Related Stories

No stories found.
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com