Only Aadhaar users can book Tatkal tickets on IRCTC site
New Delhi: The Ministry of Railways announced on Wednesday that with effect from July 1, Tatkal tickets booked through IRCTC's official website and mobile app will be available only to users authenticated with Aadhaar.
Further, Aadhaar-based OTP authentication will become mandatory for Tatkal bookings made online starting July 15.
Tatkal tickets booked at computerised Passenger Reservation System (PRS) counters and through authorised agents will require OTP authentication sent to the mobile number provided by the user at the time of booking. This provision will also come into effect from July 15.
To prevent bulk bookings during the critical opening period, authorised ticketing agents of Indian Railways will not be permitted to book opening-day Tatkal tickets during the first 30 minutes of the booking window.
For AC classes, this restriction applies from 10 a.m. to 10.30 a.m., and for non-AC classes, from 11 a.m. to 11.30 a.m.
These changes are being implemented to improve transparency in Tatkal bookings and to ensure that the benefits of the scheme reach genuine end users, according to the official statement.
The CRIS (Centre for Railway Information Services) and IRCTC have been instructed to make necessary system modifications and inform all Zonal Railways and departments concerned accordingly. The Ministry of Railways has urged all passengers to take note of these changes and asked everyone to ensure Aadhaar linkage with their IRCTC user profiles to avoid inconvenience.
The steps are being implemented with an aim to ensure fair and transparent access to Tatkal tickets and to safeguard the interests of genuine passengers. The changes will enhance user authentication and reduce misuse of the scheme, the statement added.
Indian Railways had cracked down on misuse of Tatkal bookings and identified and deactivated 2.5 crore fake IDs and flagged another 20 lakh for revalidation. Some of these accounts were found to be using disposable email addresses, which were being used to hoard tickets and sell them at inflated prices. IRCTC is utilising AI-driven tools to monitor and detect bot activity, which was being used by touts to book tickets in bulk and then make genuine travellers pay huge amounts for the tickets.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hindustan Times
9 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Punjab influencer murder: Key accused fled to UAE hours after murder, says police
Chandigarh, Amritpal Singh Mehron, the alleged key accused in the murder case of Punjab-based social media influencer Kanchan Kumari alias 'Kamal Kaur Bhabhi', fled to the UAE hours after the incident, police said on Sunday. Bhatinda Senior Superintendent of Police Amneet Kondal said police had already issued a lookout circular against Mehron, a resident of Moga. Mehron is a self-styled Sikh radical leader. He is also accused of issuing threats to at least two other Punjab-based woman social media influencers. The police said they have also blocked some of his social media handles. "Different police teams were already looking for Amritpal by conducting raids. On Saturday, we issued a lookout circular. When we got his passport details and checked his travel records and found that he had fled to the UAE after taking a flight from Amritsar in the evening, just hours after the murder was committed in Bathinda," Kondal told reporters in Bathinda. "We will tie-up with other authorities/agencies and we will follow due procedure for his deportation. We have informed the authorities that Mehron is wanted in murder case," she said. On June 13, two accused Jaspreet Singh of Moga and Nimratjit Singh from Tarn Taran had been arrested in connection with the murder of Kanchan Kumari, who was found dead in an abandoned car in a parking lot in Bathinda. Kanchan Kumari was murdered on June 9. Further investigations and questioning of the two arrested accused has revealed that two more accused are involved in the murder conspiracy. SSP Kondal said these two are Mehron's associates and one of them has been identified as Ranjit Singh. Both have been nominated in the already registered FIR, she said, adding that efforts are on to nab them. The 30-year-old influencer, known on Instagram as 'Kamal Kaur Bhabhi' with 384,000 followers, also operated a YouTube channel called 'Funny Bhabhi TV', which had 2,36,000 subscribers. Kanchan, a resident of Lachman colony in Ludhiana, was strangled to death, the SSP said. Immediately after their arrest, the two arrested men had said they killed Kanchan for uploading "immoral and vulgar content that hurt the community's sentiments". After the alleged murder, a video had surfaced on the internet where Mehron claimed that Kanchan was killed due to her "immoral and vulgar content" on social media and two of his accomplices have been arrested in connection with the case. In his video, Mehron also warned other influencers creating "objectionable content" to refrain from such activities. Targeting another Punjab-based influencer, he said it is "not necessary that a body will be found every time", as he indirectly referred to Kanchan's body being left in her car. Highlighting that it was a premeditated crime, SSP Kondal said during investigations and questioning of the two arrested accused, it came to light that Mehron had planned the murder three months ago. Mehron along with Jaspreet and Nimratjit had even travelled to Ludhiana, staying in nearby hotels at times, and tracking the movements, lifestyle and car used by Kanchan. The SSP again detailed how Mehron had allegedly approached Kanchan the previous week on the pretext of a car promotion event in Bathinda. On June 9, she left Ludhiana house, informing her mother that she was going to a promotional event. However, her family lost contact with her afterwards. Mehron, Jaspreet and Nimratjit reached Ludhiana from Moga the same day and they contacted Kanchan and called her to a place in Ludhiana, the SSP said on Sunday. After she arrived at the location Mehron sat in her car's backseat, while the other two travelled in their car. They had promised Kanchan to repair her car in a garage in Bathinda. On reaching Bathinda, Mehron, in a pre-planned conspiracy, shifted to his SUV and Nimratjit along with Kanchan went to the garage, the officer said. Mehron parked his SUV near a petrol pump and later started driving Kanchan's vehicle and all of them sat inside. At one point, they snatched her two mobile phones and Nimratjit and Jaspreet, both sitting at back seats, strangulated her to death. Later, Mehron left in Ranjit's car with another unknown accused while Jaspreet and Nimratjit took Kanchan's car along with her body to Adesh university and abandoned it there, they said. When they realised that the piece of cloth used to strangulate Kanchan had been left behind, they went there again to recover it. Her body was discovered when locals informed the police about a foul smell emanating from a car in the parking area near Adesh University. The body was brought to the civil hospital mortuary and her mother confirmed the identity the next day. A murder case was registered following a complaint registered by her mother, Girja Devi, the SSP said.
Indian Express
2 hours ago
- Indian Express
Mumbai Police arrests Delhi-based YouTuber for allegedly duping woman of Rs 19 lakh
The Cyber Police in Mumbai arrested a Delhi-based YouTuber on Saturday for allegedly duping a 45-year-old woman from Mumbai of more than Rs 19 lakh. Piyush Katyaal, who makes prank videos and has more than five lakh subscribers on YouTube, is accused of duping the woman under the pretext of accepting financial help for a medical reason. He also allegedly threatened the woman when she asked him to return the money. DCP (Cyber) Purushottam Karhad has confirmed that Katyaal was arrested for defrauding the woman. As per the police complaint, nearly 4 to 5 months ago, the complainant woman came across Katyaal's YouTube page after watching his videos. She followed him, and after seeing her comments on the video, Katyaal contacted her. The two soon exchanged their mobile numbers and chatted over messenger apps. They became good friends. According to the police, after gaining her trust recently, Katyaal sought financial help from her urgently for medical reasons. Considering the seriousness of the situation and trusting Katyaal, the woman helped him. But this continued further, and Katyaal started regularly asking the woman for financial help for one reason or another. Initially, the woman gave the money, but later when she refused, the accused started threatening to make the screenshot of their chatting viral on social media if she did not pay, states the police complaint. He also threatened to defame the woman by saying that he has got connections in the police department. The victim got scared, and taking advantage of this, Katyaal allegedly extorted a total of Rs 19 lakh from her for various reasons. But he continued demanding more money, and the woman was left with no option other than approaching the police. She contacted North Region cyber police and filed a complaint. Accordingly, on the woman's complaint, the North Cyber Police registered a case under relevant sections of the Information Technology Act and arrested Katyaal from Delhi. Katyaal was remanded to five days of police custody by a court. 'The cyber police is investigating the case and we will check if there are other victims as well,' DCP Karhad said.
Hindustan Times
4 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
YouTuber, known for prank videos, blackmails Mumbai woman, dupes her of ₹19 lakh
Mumbai police have arrested a Delhi-based YouTuber for allegedly threatening and duping a 45-year-old woman of ₹19 lakh, an official said on Sunday. The accused, Piyush Katyaal, is known for his prank videos on YouTube and has more than 5 lakh followers, he said. A woman approached the North Region Cyber police station with a complaint of cheating last week, the official said. He said the woman alleged that she came into contact with Katyaal five months ago after she liked one of his prank videos, and posted a comment about it and started following his account. The duo exchanged phone numbers, and a few days ago, Katyaal sought money from her, citing a medical emergency, the official said. She initially refused him, but he later blackmailed her and threatened to make her messages and chats public on social media. The woman paid him around ₹19 lakh over a period of time and subsequently approached the cyber police, he said. A case was registered against Katyaal, and a team from the North Region Cyber police station arrested him in Delhi on June 12, he said, adding that further probe is underway.
