Indian Railways has announced that effective July 1st, 2025, only passengers with verified Aadhaar details will be able to book tatkal tickets. This change will apply to both online as well as offline bookings through railway PRS counters. This move is aimed at curbing the menace of fradulent ticket bookings done by unauthorized agents and third parties, who then sell these tickets at exorbitant prices to passengers.
Why Aadhaar verification?
There had been widespread complaints from passengers regarding tickets getting sold out as soon as bookings opened on the ARP(advanced reservation period) date. It was speculated that ticket booking agents and other third parties were blocking these seats by booking them and then selling those train tickets to desperate passengers at a premium. Similar was the case with tatkal bookings wherein bonafide passengers were denied confirmed accommodation in trains due to this malpractice of blocking tickets.
How will Aadhaar verification help passengers?
With Aadhaar verification now mandatory for booking tatkal tickets, Indian Railways has taken a step towards ensuring that genuine passengers wishing to travel by booking tatkal tickets will now get a chance to book confirmed tickets without having to jostle with agents and other third parties who until now used to book tickets for resale.
OTP verification for booking Tatkal tickets.
Starting July 15th, passengers wishing to book tatkal tickets will also have to generate OTPs using their Aadhar linked mobile numbers. This will further ensure that only genuine passengers get to book tickets.
How do I verify my Aadhaar details while booking Tatkal tickets?
If you’re a user of IRCTC, then you can log into your account, either through a desktop browser or the IRCTC mobile app and verify your Aadhar details.
- Go to irctc.co.in/nget/
- Log into your account
- Navigate to “My Account”
- Click on “Authenticate User”
- Enter your Aadhaar details and get verified.
Downsides of Aadhaar verification to book Tatkal tickets
While this is a welcome move to curb the unscrupulous practice of blocking tickets by agents and resellers, there is a downside to this as well. For starters, the OTP generation and propagation could be delayed, in which case, one may not be able to book their ticket in time and might lose out on getting confirmed accommodation.