Indian Railways Alters Tatkal Booking: Changes for July 1st

The booking time for AC class tickets will be from 10:00 AM to 10:30 AM, and for Non-AC class tickets, it will be from 11:00 AM to 11:30 AM.

Tatkal Ticket Booking Rules: Indian Railways has implemented a significant change to its Tatkal ticket booking rules, effective July 1, 2025. The new rule mandates Aadhaar verification for Tatkal ticket bookings. This means passengers whose IRCTC accounts are not linked to Aadhaar will not be able to book Tatkal tickets online or offline. The Ministry of Railways issued a directive to all railway zones on Tuesday. It stated that the aim of this requirement is to ensure that the benefits of the Tatkal scheme reach genuine users.

Railway Ministry's Circular

The Railway Ministry has issued a circular to all zones. It states that from July 1st, tickets under the Tatkal scheme can only be booked via the IRCTC website/app by Aadhaar-authenticated users. Furthermore, the ministry has stipulated that from July 15, 2025, passengers will have to complete an additional step of Aadhaar-based OTP authentication for Tatkal bookings.

Agents Also Restricted for 30 Minutes

Railway ticket agents will also be unable to book tickets for 30 minutes before the Tatkal ticket booking opens. For AC class, this period will be from 10:00 AM to 10:30 AM, and for non-AC class, it will be from 11:00 AM to 11:30 AM.

Ashwini Vaishnaw's Indication

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw hinted at this change on June 4th via a post on X. In his X post, Ashwini Vaishnaw stated that Indian Railways (Bharatiya Railways) will soon begin using e-Aadhaar authentication for booking Tatkal tickets. This will help genuine users obtain confirmed tickets when needed.

Curbing Fraudulent Bookings

This move by the railways aims to curb fraudulent bookings made using fake accounts, duplicate IDs, and bots. Media reports suggest that over 67,000 tickets are booked within seconds of the Tatkal booking opening, many of which are booked fraudulently or by agents.