…regardless of N900 million e-ticketing platform

Favour Okpale

The Nigerian Railway Company (NRC) has introduced an investigation into allegations of ticket racketeering involving a few of its officers on the Abuja-Kaduna practice service (AKTS).

This comes regardless of the Federal Authorities’s introduction of a N900 million e-ticketing platform in January 2021, designed to curb such practices and improve accountability.

In a press release launched by Yakub Mahmood, the NRC’s Deputy Director of Public Relations, the company acknowledged receiving stories of passengers dealing with difficulties in acquiring tickets by the web platform.

These challenges have reportedly opened alternatives for some officers to use passengers, participating in ticket racketeering.

Learn additionally: Abuja-Kaduna-Abuja passenger practice service secure, says NRC

“Data has reached the administration of the NRC concerning passengers’ difficulties in acquiring tickets on-line, resulting in ticket racketeering on the Abuja-Kaduna Practice Service (AKTS) in latest instances

“To handle this unlucky state of affairs, administration has arrange a workforce, headed by the Deputy Director of ICT, to research.

“Within the meantime, the Managing Director of the NRC, Freeborn Okhiria, has directed Mr Mohammed Modibo Ibrahim to instantly report and assume the place of Supervisor of the AKTS.

The NRC has additionally directed the Director of Operations to extend the frequency of practice companies on the route inside the subsequent two weeks, in a bid to ease ticket entry for passengers and scale back the alternatives for racketeering.

“The Managing Director has additionally instructed the Director of Operations to extend the frequency of practice companies on the route inside the subsequent two weeks,” Mahmood said.

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The NRC assured the general public that the state of affairs could be resolved quickly and urged passengers to stay affected person as measures are taken to handle the challenges with the e-ticketing platform and get rid of the corruption surrounding ticket gross sales.

The e-ticketing platform, launched in January 2021, was geared toward selling effectivity, lowering bodily contact between passengers and NRC workers, and curbing income leakages. Nevertheless, the latest points counsel additional efforts are wanted to make sure the system capabilities as supposed.