Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has announced changes to the Tatkal ticket booking system. Going forward, Tatkal tickets can only be booked through the IRCTC website by users who have linked their Aadhaar card with their account.
Additionally, agents are now banned from making any bookings during the first 30 minutes of the Advance Reservation Period (ARP) of Tatkal booking, making it easy for commuters to get the tickets.
As for Tatkal tickets booked at the computerised Passenger Reservation System (PRS) counters and IRCTC authorised agents, commuters will have to share an OTP sent to their mobile number provided by them at the time of booking.
The new regulations make it mandatory for IRCTC users to link their Aadhaar Card to IRCTC accounts if they want to book Tatkal tickets on priority. If you haven’t linked your new or existing IRCTC account to your Aadhaar card, here’s how you can do it now.
Linking your Aadhaar card with IRCTC account is a pretty straightforward process. (Image Source: IRCTC)
How to link Aadhaar Card with IRCTC account?
1. Open the IRCTC website in your favourite web browser and log in with your credentials.
2. Now, click on the ‘My account’ option that appears on the top and press the ‘Authenticate User’ button.
3. On the page that appears, enter your Aadhaar number or Virtual ID.
Story continues below this ad
4. Double-check if the name, date of birth, and gender are correct before proceeding. If you spot an error, click on the Edit option to update these details.
4. Once done, click on the “Verify details and receive OTP” button to get a one-time password on your mobile.
5. Enter the OTP, read and agree to the consent displayed in the box. Press the Submit button to complete the authentication process.
When you are done linking your Aadhaar card to your IRCTC account, re-login to your account, and you will see a green tick besides the option named ‘Authenticate user’. Now, you will be able to get priority access when booking Tatkal tickets from your IRCTC account.
