IIT Graduate Gets Arrested For Creating Faster Rail Ticket Booking App

IRCTC's rail ticket booking experience is the stuff of legends! While the website has improved over the years, the fact that there's a host of online rail ticket booking apps out there proves the fundamental IRCTC experience can be much better.

Maybe that was the idea in S Yuvarajaa's mind, an IITian who passed out of IIT Kharagpur, when he built his rail ticketing apps for Android phones. But it has now landed the app creator in jail.

Reuters

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According to a TOI report, Tirupur native S Yuvarajaa who created the 'Super Tatkal' and 'Super Tatkal Pro' railway ticket booking apps has been arrested for the same.

He's accused of bypassing the IRCTC's ticket booking system by creating an online platform for customers to book tickets in exchange for payments through a 'coin' based system, according to reports.

Yuvarajaa is believed to have created both the Android-based online ticket booking apps in 2016, when they garnered popularity -- but the apps have since been removed from Google Play store and are unavailable for download.

According to the TOI report, the Cyber Cell of Railway Protection Force (RPF) in Chennai tracked him down using server source code, application source code, end-users list and his bank statements.

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Reuters

Furthermore, while describing the youth's arrest, the Southern Railway principal chief security commissioner Birendra Kumar said, ¡°He created a software to book tickets faster and he was not even an authorised agent of IRCTC.¡±

Bypassing the railway system and making money illegally was the crime, as is confirmed by the charges labelled against Yuvarajaa -- RPF has registered a case under section 143 (2) of the Railways Act (penalty for unauthorised carrying on of business of procuring and supplying of railway tickets).

Because of this faster online ticket booking app(s), people trying to book tickets on IRCTC's website were deprived of a fair chance, according to some rail officials cited in the TOI report.

After Yuvarajaa's arrest, a Twitter user claiming to be his friend has posted a thread of comments on the micro-blogging platform.

Twitter (click on the image to read more)

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