Convenience fees across AC and non-AC categories have been unchanged for years despite rising digital volumes, inflation, and continued platform investment. What is the scope for revising the convenience fee structure long-term?
At the moment, we are not planning to announce anything. But of course, when it will pinch us, we'll think about it.
Dividend payout ratio remains strong at around 50%. Are you evaluating other methods to reward shareholders such as buybacks?
This decision is made by DIPAM, Ministry of Finance. Though we qualify for their criteria, there are several years of barriers. Our board has already apprised DIPAM in this regard.
The last catering price hike was in 2019. Given the surge in gas prices and rising input costs for licensees, is a revision in catering prices possible? If a price hike happens, would IRCTC benefit from existing fixed-fee contracts?
Catering prices are an administered item decided by the Ministry of Railways - I cannot comment on a hypothetical. I can't say anything until the price is actually raised.
Due to higher international airfares, there seems to be diversion to domestic tourism this summer season. Are you seeing any increase in ticket bookings or holiday packages in Q1FY27?
You want me to comment on a listed company's forward-looking data, which I should not - but yes, we are very hopeful.
From a technology perspective over the next 2-3 years, do you see IRCTC bypassing channel partners or do you see them continuing to add value?
Why do you want me to lose money? You are my investor. You should be happy if I work with them more.
You mentioned the enhancement of license fees for prepaid and postpaid trains is sub judice. Can you quantify the potential incremental revenue not yet recognized, and what is the timeline for resolution with the High Court for CC-60?
That is under litigation and I should not comment on it currently.
RBI extended the payment aggregator license deadline to August 2026. You mentioned onboarding a tech partner in Q3. What is the current milestone status and what is the monetization roadmap for the unified portal once the license is secured?
August is the deadline and I am happy to tell you that we will be able to meet it. We have already engaged our partner.
August Kranti Rajdhani doesn't stop at Agra - a major tourist hub. Passengers deboard at Mathura and travel to Agra by road. Have you evaluated adding an Agra stoppage to enhance premium passenger demand?
The route of August Kranti Rajdhani runs from Mathura to Mumbai via Kota and doesn't pass through Agra. IRCTC cannot deviate routes - that's Railways' call. Passengers wanting Agra can use the Rajdhani from Mumbai CSMT to Nizamuddin. If you have a suggestion, you can write to Indian Railways.
Given strong cash balance and highly efficient cash flow generation, what are IRCTC's key capital allocation priorities over the next few years?
We are an asset-light company but investing in our e-ticketing platform infrastructure and security. Additionally, we are planning four new Rail Neer plants and expansion of two existing ones. We are also exploring entry into the hotel business.
IRCTC operated at 36% EBITDA margins four years ago. Q4 FY26 margins are at 27%. Can you elaborate on key drivers of this compression and whether those earlier 36% margins were structurally sustainable?
We have been diversifying into lower-margin segments like catering and tourism (10-12% margin) to improve absolute profits. Internet ticketing at 89% market share doesn't offer much further headroom. We are targeting 30% margin - FY26 full-year is 31.95%. Q4 dip to 27% is due to exceptional items; excluding those it would be 30%.
What was the exceptional item this quarter and its amount? Also, did IRCTC get any revenue from election special trains in Q4?
Three major exceptional items: (1) Rs. 48 crores legacy income booked in March 2025 is not there this year; (2) CSR expenses increased from Rs. 7 crores to Rs. 31 crores; (3) Additional ECL of Rs. 16 crores vs Rs. 8 crores last year. Election special train revenue was Rs. 2.38 crores in Q4 and Rs. 6.77 crores for the full year.
Can you share the number of tickets booked, convenience fee income, and UPI share for Q4?
Number of tickets booked: AC class 6.85 crores, non-AC class 6.54 crores, total 13.39 crores. UPI share: 51.7%. Convenience fee income: Rs. 247 crores.
There was a sharp decline in catering EBIT margin from 10.4% to 6.3%, and IT ticketing margin from 85% to 76%. Was there anything business-specific causing these declines?
Catering margin dip: ECL provision increased from Rs. 5 crores to Rs. 16 crores, CSR allocation from Rs. 1 crore to Rs. 5 crores in catering, and absence of Rs. 33 crores legacy income from last year. Also additional Rs. 3 crores of GST from premium train sales. IT business margin: CSR allocation of additional Rs. 17 crores, direct cost of Rs. 8 crores, and UPI share increase costing another Rs. 8 crores.
In Q4, there was a shortage of commercial LPG cylinders. Did that impact catering margins?
We took multiple steps: (1) Allowed vendors to cook on LHB pantry cars using on-board electricity; (2) Switched to induction cooking at major stations; (3) Tied up with IOCL, BPCL, HPCL as per government directives for priority supply.
What percentage of IRCTC tickets are booked through channel partners and online travel agents like EaseMyTrip, MakeMyTrip?
Channel partner share is around 28%. We will send the exact details.
Other expenses are normally Rs. 40-50 crores per quarter but this quarter they were Rs. 109 crores. What are the reasons?
As explained in the opening - CSR provisioning of Rs. 31-32 crores and ECL of Rs. 16 crores are the primary reasons for the spike in other expenses.
Tourism topline was healthy but margins mildly contracted. What drove Q4 growth? Was it lower-margin Bharat Gaurav packages vs premium luxury, and what is the margin sustainability outlook?
The margin decrease is primarily due to CSR allocation of Rs. 1.5 crores and a decrease in margin from the two Tejas Express trains. Excluding those, tourism margin would have been around 18%.
Rail Neer showed good margin expansion. What drove it? Are the drivers sustainable or just improved capacity utilization?
This last quarter, preform rates were quite good, which drove the margin percentage increase.
Catering and tourism grew well but ticketing growth is moderating. How do you see the revenue mix evolving over the next few years and which business will be the primary growth driver?
Catering will maintain around 15% growth. Tourism we are targeting around 20% growth. IT business: 7% growth target, but we want to increase non-convenience fee component to 10% through the unified portal and iPay initiatives.
Revenue grew 11.5% for full year but CSR increased 4x. What led to this sharp increase?
CSR is based on 2% of profit over last 3 years. We book CSR expenditure when projects are sanctioned. Most of our CSR projects were sanctioned in Q4, hence the front-loading. It's exceptional, not a structural increase.
Should we expect this volatility in CSR going forward?
It is an exceptional item. On a normalized basis, Rs. 2-3 crores per month would amount to around Rs. 32-36 crores annually - which is our CSR liability. The timing depends on project identification and sanction. I don't think it creates a structural problem.
Just to reconfirm - total tickets booked were 13.39 crores?
Yes.
You are doubling capacity at Danapur and Ambernath and exploring four greenfield Rail Neer plants. What is the execution status? Also, any progress on tie-ups with other beverage brands to bridge the 40% demand-supply gap?
Ambernath tender placed for expansion from 2 lakh to 3 lakh bottles per day. Danapur tender placed for expansion from 1 lakh to 2 lakh bottles per day. For greenfield: land acquired at Mysore and Prayagraj; Bhagalpur land was unsuitable and a better site has been requested; Ranchi/Barpali allotment confirmed verbally but formal communication awaited. On beverage partner tie-ups: discussions ongoing but experience so far is not very encouraging.
Ministry of Railways is scaling Vande Bharat trains. How should we model the long-term sustainable margin for the catering division? Are pricing or licensing fee revisions being discussed with Railway Board?
Vande Bharat is not a low-margin business. Licensees pay license fees for the right to serve on trains, and IRCTC also earns billing revenue. The billing amount goes through IRCTC as a pass-through, on which 5% GST applies without ITC credit. As Vande Bharat volumes scale, this 5% GST on pass-through billing will be a headwind on reported margins even though cash economics are healthy.