Railways tightens ticket booking rules with Aadhaar verification

September 17, 2025 Hot from the Oven Valli Sarvani

To ensure fair access and prevent misuse of its online ticketing system, Indian Railways has introduced a major change for online bookings.

Starting October 1, passengers booking general reserved tickets online within the first 15 minutes of the booking window must complete Aadhaar verification on the IRCTC website or app.

This new rule is part of a broader effort to curb ticket hoarding by touts and middlemen, who often block seats immediately after bookings open.

By requiring Aadhaar-linked and verified user accounts, the Railways hopes to give genuine passengers a better chance at securing tickets, especially during peak travel seasons.

Key Points of the New Rule:

Effective from October 1 for general reserved tickets.
Applies only to online bookings via IRCTC.
Booking in the first 15 minutes after opening requires Aadhaar-verified accounts.
Offline ticket counters will continue under the existing system.

This rule follows the July 1, 2025, policy making Aadhaar authentication mandatory for Tatkal bookings.

Under this system:

Only Aadhaar-authenticated users can book Tatkal tickets.
Bookings allowed only via the IRCTC website or app.

Authorised agents are barred from booking Tatkal tickets for:

AC classes from 10:00 am to 10:30 am.

Non-AC classes from 11:00 am to 11:30 am.

In addition, Indian Railways recently changed the reservation chart preparation timing.

Charts are now made 8 hours before train departure, instead of 4. This gives waitlisted passengers more time and clarity for travel planning.

The Railways is also upgrading its Passenger Reservation System (PRS).

Developed by the Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS), the new PRS will handle:

Over 1.5 lakh tickets per minute.
More than 40 lakh enquiries per minute.

With these changes, Indian Railways aims to make its ticketing process more transparent, efficient, and passenger-friendly, putting regular travellers ahead of agents and touts.

Image from Pxhere (Free for commercial use / CC0 Public Domain)

Image Published on February 16, 2017