Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Tuesday announced that tatkal ticket bookings, based on OTP verification, will come into effect by July 1st, to remove middlemen.
Additionally, the minister also announced that the Railways is also working on a project to issue passenger reservation charts 24 hours before the departure time of a train, currently it is being issued 4 hours before, causing inconvenience to passengers holding wait-listed or RAC tickets. Pilot regarding the same has been going on in the Bikaner division, and has received good feedback. This will be implemented across the country soon, Ashwini Vaishnaw said.
Last week, Indian Railways announced key modifications in the Tatkal ticket booking system with an aim to ensure fair and transparent access and remove middlemen from the booking process.
From July 1st, Tatkal tickets through IRCTC's official website and mobile app will be available only to users authenticated with Aadhaar.
Further, Aadhaar-based OTP authentication will become mandatory for Tatkal bookings made online starting 15th July 2025.Tatkal tickets booked at computerised Passenger Reservation System (PRS) counters and through authorised agents will require OTP authentication sent to the mobile number provided by the user at the time of booking. This provision will also come into effect from July 15, 2025.
Furthermore, in order to prevent bulk bookings during the critical opening period, authorised ticketing agents of Indian Railways will not be permitted to book opening-day Tatkal tickets during the first 30 minutes of the booking window. For AC classes, this restriction applies from 10:00 am to 10:30 am, and for non-AC classes, from 11:00 am to 11:30 am. These changes are being implemented to improve transparency in Tatkal bookings and to ensure that the benefits of the scheme reach genuine end users.
CRIS and IRCTC have been instructed to make necessary system modifications and inform all Zonal Railways and concerned departments accordingly.