Railway Introduces OTP-Based Booking to Weed Out Scammers in Tatkal Ticket Reservation New Rule Change. Tatkal Ticket Booking Rule Change: An OTP will be given to the passenger’s mobile number throughout the Tatkal Ticket booking procedure. Only after the OTP has been accurately checked will the ticket be validated.
New Rules for Tatkal Ticket Reservations: Western Railway has announced major improvements to the current system in accordance with Railway Board directions in an effort to make Tatkal ticket purchases more transparent and passenger-friendly. Tatkal tickets will now only be provided upon successful authentication using a system-generated One-Time Password (OTP) under the updated procedure.
An OTP will be given to the passenger’s mobile number throughout the booking process. Only until the OTP is accurately validated will the ticket be confirmed, guaranteeing that the reservation is being made by a legitimate person and not being abused by automated or unapproved means.
The OTP-based verification system has already been deployed on 21 trains that originate from the Western Railway zone, according to a press statement from Vineet Abhishek, Chief Public Relations Officer of Western Railway. Four further trains will be able to use the facility starting on December 24, 2025: Badli–Sitamarhi Express (14072), Bandra–Vadodara Express (19037), Ahmedabad–Saharsa Express (19483), and Muzaffarpur–Mumbai Terminus Express (22956).
The measure is anticipated to reduce illicit bulk bookings by agents and middlemen, a long-standing complaint among travelers, according to railway officials. The Tatkal booking procedure is expected to become more equitable and transparent with the use of OTP authentication on the IRCTC website and mobile application.
In addition to increasing accessibility and confidence in the online booking process, the main goal of the new system is to guarantee that Tatkal tickets are accessible to legitimate travelers who require them immediately.
The action is significant in light of the Railways’ extensive criticism. Ordinary passengers frequently find it difficult to obtain Tatkal tickets, and brokers, intermediaries, and con artists are said to utilize automated software and bots to corner bookings on popular routes in a matter of seconds. The Tatkal ticketing mafias’ operations have not been successfully stopped by previous initiatives like Aadhaar-based registration and booking.
Railway tickets are only available to Aadhaar-verified customers on the first day of advance reservations.
When purchasing paper tickets at reservation desks, travelers can proceed as usual by presenting the reservation form and any legitimate form of identification. Indian Railways has made Aadhaar verification a requirement for general reservation tickets on the first day of the advance reservation period through the IRCTC portal, almost six months after making it a requirement for Tatkal e-tickets. The goal of the new regulation, which goes into force on January 12, is to guarantee that only legitimate travelers make prior reservations.
Passengers can still purchase paper tickets at reservation desks by completing the reservation form and presenting any legitimate form of identification.
Passengers who have not completed Aadhaar verification on the IRCTC portal will not be permitted to purchase tickets on the opening day of reservations, which starts sixty days before to a train’s scheduled departure, per an order issued by the Railway Board. At eight in the morning, the booking window opens.
Only Aadhaar-validated users will be able to purchase tickets between 8 a.m. and noon starting on December 29, according to the notification. Beginning on January 5, this restriction will be extended from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Only Aadhaar-validated customers will be able to purchase tickets from 8 a.m. to midnight starting on January 12.
Tickets on popular routes continue to sell out within minutes of the booking window starting at 8 am, according to official sources who defended the decision. “Tickets are quickly depleted on popular routes like Chennai-Howrah, Chennai-New Delhi, Chennai-Jaipur/Jodhpur, Chennai-Mangaluru, and others,” an official stated.
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