E-Aadhaar authentication to be made mandatory for Tatkal tickets
The Ministry of Railways is planning major changes to the Tatkal ticketing process, aiming to make it more robust and prevent malpractices by making e-Aadhaar authentication mandatory for Tatkal bookings.
Minister for Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw said Wednesday that Railways will soon introduce e-Aadhaar authentication for booking Tatkal tickets. 'Bharatiya Railways will soon start using e-Aadhaar authentication to book Tatkal tickets. This will help genuine users get confirmed tickets during need,' Vaishnaw said on X.
A senior ministry official said that e-Aadhaar authentication will be the new step, while a provision to authenticate an IRCTC account with Aadhaar to book 24 tickets a month already exists.
'Account holders who link their accounts with Aadhaar will get priority booking during the first 10 minutes of Tatkal ticket sales. Even authorized IRCTC agents are not allowed to book within the first 10 minutes,' the official said.
The official said the proposal for e-Aadhaar authentication is part of the campaign against the use of automated tools to book tickets online. The official said: '…the railways have deactivated and blocked over 24 million users in the past six months. Additionally, around 2 million accounts have been flagged as suspicious and are under probe.'
Dheeraj Mishra is a Principal correspondent with The Indian Express, Business Bureau. He covers India's two key ministries- Ministry of Railways and Ministry of Road Transport & Highways. He frequently uses the Right to Information (RTI) Act for his stories, which have resulted in many impactful reports. ... Read More
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