Tatkal ticket: Indian Railways has made an important change related to Tatkal ticket booking. From 1 July 2025, tickets will be available only to Aadhaar-verified passengers under Tatkal quota. This rule will be applicable to both IRCTC website and mobile app. The Ministry of Railways has taken this decision for the purpose of making immediate booking more transparent and accessible to common passengers.
On June 10, the Railway Ministry issued a directive saying, “Only Aadhaar Verified users will be able to book tickets under the immediate scheme.” The ministry believes that this will curb black marketing of Tatkal tickets and the benefit of facility will be given to real passengers.
Tatkal ticket sales are about 20% of the total ticket sales of the railway. This scheme is specially designed to meet emergency situations or final -time travel requirements. In this, passengers have to pay 10–30% premium on normal fare.
OTP is also required on counter booking
The Railways has also clarified that if Tatkal tickets are booked from the railway counter or authorized agent, from 15 July 2025, booking will be done only through OTP sent to the mobile number linked to Aadhaar.
This OTP process will be generated from the system of IRCTC and the mobile number given to passengers at the time of booking will be valid. This step has been taken to curb suspected booking.
Ticket agent also banned
Railways have given a major setback to authorized agents to increase transparency in booking of Tatkal tickets. Now agents will not be able to book AC class tickets from 10:00 am to 10:30 am. At the same time, the same ban for non-AC tickets will remain in force from 11:00 to 11:30 pm.
This new rule will ensure that common passengers can come first and booking and agents do not get priority.
New security system and digital infrastructure
Railways said that it has partnered with advanced anti-boat system and content delivery network (CDN) in its digital booking platform to stop automatic and immoral booking. Under this, 2.5 crore suspected user accounts have been deactivated so far.
On 22 May 2025, the Railways also recorded a record of 31,814 ticket booking in a minute, indicating successful implementation of new technology.
Strictness on new user registration
Now users who create new ID on IRCTC will have to withstand a three-day cooling-off period for booking tickets for high-demand category like Tatkal or Premium Tatkal. In contrast, there will be no such restriction for base-verified users.
Railway Minister’s response
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav described the new rules as a decision to benefit real passengers. He said, “Aadhaar-based e-authentication will further transparent the booking process. Also, and the needy will increase the chances of getting confirmed tickets.”
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