Attention Railway Passengers! Aadhaar authentication to book Tatkal tickets mandatory from THIS date. Check details

Attention Railway passengers! From July 1 2025, only users who have Aadhaar authentication on the IRCTC app and website will be able to book Tatkal tickets, the railway ministry has said in an official statement.

The railway ministry, in a circular dated June 10, told all zonal offices that it had taken this decision “to ensure that the benefits of the Tatkal Scheme are received by the common end users.”

“With effect from 01-07-2025, tickets under Tatkal scheme can be booked through the website of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC)/ its app only by Aadhaar authenticated users,” the railway ministry said in its circular.

Aadhaar-based OTP mandatory

As the rule comes into effect, users will also be required to mandatorily put an Aadhaar-based OTP for authentication. This will come into effect from July 15.

“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,” the ministry said in its notification.

New Tatkal window for ticketing agents

The circular also specified that authorised ticketing agents of the Indian Railways will not be permitted to book opening day Tatkal tickets during the first 30 minutes of the Tatkal booking window. Specifically, they will be restricted from booking Tatkal tickets for air-conditioned classes from 10.00 am to 10.30 am and for non-air-conditioned classes from 11.00 am to 11.30 am.

The ministry has directed the Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) and IRCTC to make the necessary modifications to the system and communicate these changes to all zonal railways.

Railways starts trials to confirm tickets of waitlist passengers 24 hours prior

The railway ministry also said Wednesday that a trial had been launched to confirm the status of waitlist passengers 24 hours before the departure of the time, instead of the current 4 hours.

Ministry officials assured that the pilot project would become part of the policy only after receiving a positive response from the passengers.

“We have started this pilot project in the Bikaner Division, where charts are being prepared 24 hours before the train departure. The current practice is doing so before 4 hours”, Dilip Kumar, Executive Director, Information and Publicity, Railway Board, said.

He noted that this trial was being done keeping in mind the concerns of passengers who remain uncertain about their journey due to a waiting ticket. "Now, if they know 24 hours before that their tickets are confirmed, they can plan their travel better," he added.

However, once a ticket is confirmed, passengers will lose a substantial chunk of the ticket amount as penalty in case of cancellation.

According to the cancellation policy, if a confirmed ticket is cancelled between 48 hours and 12 hours before departure, passengers will receive 25 per cent of the ticket amount back. If cancelled between 12 hours and 4 hours before departure, they will receive only 50 per cent.

(With PTI inputs)