From Christmas, buy online tickets for Humayun’s Tomb, Taj Mahal

Gradually, other important monuments in the country that are popular with tourists, will be included. “IRCTC has told us they are ready to start e-ticketing at Taj Mahal and Humayun’s Tomb, so we are starting with that,” Additional Director-General of ASI B R Mani said.

Officials said as equipment has been put in place at the entry gates of both monuments to scan the barcode on the e-tickets.

Next in line are Qutub Minar and Red Fort, which will get the e-ticket facility by the first quarter of 2015.

“The project is being implemented in phases. World heritage sites are our first priority, after which we will look at expanding the service to other monuments as well,” Mani said.

ASI officials also said that during the trial phase, they will monitor tourists’ response to the facility and overcome technical shortcomings before extending the facility to other monuments.

The Taj Mahal is the most visited monument in the country with an average of 3 lakh visitors everyday, while Humayun’s Tomb had received almost 9 lakh visitors this year.

While there is no cap in the trial phase, ASI may put a cap on the number of daily visitors for monuments once the facility is regularised. “As with train tickets, visitors will be put on the waiting list once the fixed limit is crossed. Those on the waiting list will get tickets for the next available day,” an official from IRCTC’s technical team said.