Higher Grade Pay for Railway Commercial clerk, Reservation Clerk and ticket checking staff

7th CPC has recommended that Posts of Railway Commercial Clerks, Enquiry Cum Reservation Clerks (ECRCs) and Ticket Checking staff (TTEs and TCs) are merged as Commercial and Ticketing Staff and then placed in the appropriate level in the new pay matrix

7th CPC recommends higher grade pay for Railway Commercial clerk, Reservation Clerk and ticket checking staff- Three categories to be merged and then placed in the appropriate level in the new pay matrix

7th Pay Commission proposes that all these cadres are to be merged and called as Railwy Commercial ant Ticketing Staff.  50% posts which require class XII qualification will have to selected and like wise 50% of posts for which graduation will be eligibility will be selected through RRB.  Both these posts will be upgraded to Grade Pay of Rs 2000 and Rs. 2800 respectively prior fixation of new pay under 7CPC.  The remaining post after selection through RRB will have to be filled through promotion

Commercial Staff

There are three categories of Commercial Staff–Commercial Clerks, Enquiry Cum Reservation Clerks (ECRCs) and Ticket Checking staff (TTEs and TCs). They are responsible for commercial duties like issuing of tickets–unreserved as well as reserved, handling enquiries, checking of tickets on board trains, etc. Their present structure, along with the employee strength in each GP is as follows:

For Commercial Clerks, the minimum educational qualification stipulated is Class X.  Entry into the cadre is only at GP 2000 – 50 percent direct recruitment through RRB; 33 1/3% through LDCE from eligible erstwhile Gr.D staff of Traffic and Commercial Departments with three years of continuous service; 16 2/3% through promotion of matriculate employees in GP 1800 from eligible categories.

For ECRCs, graduation is the minimum requirement, with entry GP2800.

Entry in Ticket Checking staff is at GP 1900–50% direct recruitment by RRB with the minimum educational qualification of Class X and the remaining 50 percent filled by promotion–33.33% by General Selection and 16.66 percent by LDCE with minimum qualification of Class X.

All the three categories have demanded improvement in their pay structure. Representations have also been received to upgrade the entry level qualification of Commercial Clerks and Ticket Checking staff from the current level of Class X to graduation. It has also been stated that with the proliferation of technology for booking unreserved and reserved tickets, the requirement of Commercial Clerks and ECRCs is going down. At the same time, with an increase in the number of trains, the need for Ticket Checking staff is on the rise. Hence, it has been suggested that these three cadres should be merged.

Analysis and Recommendations

The Commission analysed the year-wise data pertaining to the percentage of reserved tickets booked at the counters vis-à-vis those booked through the internet:

Reservations on Indian Railways

A clear trend towards increase in internet booking is visible, so much so that internet booking has now exceeded the counter booking. With the introduction of innovative technological solutions for the unreserved sector, like the recently launched mobile application, the counter sales of unreserved tickets are also likely to go down.

Hence, the Commission finds merit in the argument that the three categories of Commercial staff should be unified into a single cadre. Accordingly, it is recommended that they should be consolidated into one cadre called Commercial and Ticketing Staff. The cadre will have the following structure after merger:

Employees in GP 1900 should be upgraded to GP 2000; those in GP 2400 should be upgraded to GP 2800 and then placed in the appropriate level in the new pay matrix. The inter-se seniority will be as per normal rules of seniority. Proper training will have to be imparted to the employees as per the requirements. The recruitment in the cadre should be at two levels:

a.   At Level 3: 50% from open market through RRB, with minimum qualification of Class XII, 33 1/3 % through General Selection from Traffic and Commercial staff in GP 1800 fulfilling the eligibility criterion, and 16 2/3% through LDCE.

b.   At Level 5: 50%from open market through RRB, with minimum qualification of Graduation, and 50% through promotion.

With this merger, employees in GP 1900 and GP 2400 will get the benefit of upgradation. At the same time, the job content of all three categories will be enriched, as they will be able to join any of the three streams. Organizational flexibility will be enhanced as the department will have a larger pool of employees for optimal utilization, as per the requirement.