In a major crackdown on illegal booking and hoarding of train tickets, the Indian Railways has announced that only Aadhaar-authenticated users will be able to book tickets online under the Tatkal scheme from July 1.
According to the Railway Ministry, this decision was “aimed at enhancing user authentication and reducing misuse of the Tatkal scheme”.
“Effective 1st July 2025, Tatkal tickets booked through IRCTC’s (Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited) official website and mobile app will be available only to users authenticated with Aadhaar. Aadhaar-based OTP authentication will become mandatory for Tatkal bookings made online starting 15th July 2025,” the ministry said in a circular dated June 10.
The Aadhaar safeguards come as the railways revealed it has blocked 24 million user accounts and flagged another 2 million as suspicious in the past six months as part of a major crackdown on misuse of the Tatkal ticketing system.
Currently, only 12 million of IRCTC’s 130 million registered users are Aadhaar-verified.
The Railways has also introduced system-based OTP authentication at passenger reservation system (PRS) counters and for authorised agents. Railways said that users booking tickets at these points will receive an OTP on their registered mobile number, which will be required to complete the booking. This provision too will be enforced from July 15.
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“Tatkal tickets shall be available for booking through computerized PRS (Passenger Reservation System) counters of Indian Railways/authorized agents only after authentication of a system-generated OTP, which shall be sent through the system on the mobile number furnished by the users at the time of booking. This shall also be implemented by 15/07/2025,” it said.
