​IRCTC train ticket online booking: Pay for a ticket only when it's confirmed, get instant refund if cancelled; here's how

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

i-Pay payment gateway by IRCTC and is called 'Autopay'. Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd. (IRCTC)'s iPay payment gateway's 'Auto Pay' feature works with a unified payment interface (UPI), credit cards, and even debit cards.
According to the IRCTC website, «The user's bank account will get debited only once the system generates the PNR for the railway ticket.» This mechanism is similar to how an initial public offer (IPO) application works using UPI.

Who will benefit from IRCTC iPay Autopay?

It is only those individuals who are booking a high-value railway e-ticket or trying to book a waitlisted normal or tatkal ticket that will benefit the most. According to the IRCTC website, iPay Autopay is most useful in the following scenarios:

• Waitlist: AutoPay is more beneficial where the e-ticket does not get booked even after the deduction of payment from the user's bank account due to 'Berth choice not met' or 'No Room' scenarios.
• Waitlist Tatkal: If Tatkal waitlisted e-ticket remains on the waitlist even after chart preparation, in such cases only applicable charges (cancellation charges, IRCTC convenience fee, and mandate charges) will get deducted from the user's account and the lien amount (autopay) is released back to the individual's bank account.
• Instant refund: If an individual is booking a waitlisted ticket, then on unsuccessful allotment of a confirmed ticket the money deducted would be refunded in three to four business days. If the booking amount is higher then getting an instant refund