Passengers please note! Railways has made a big change in ticket booking, do this work soon..

Now a big change is going to happen in the railway ticket rules. In view of increasing transparency in the ticketing system and the convenience of passengers, the new railway will be implemented from October 1. Under this, now only Aadhaar-linked users will be able to book tickets from the IRCTC website or app.

15 15-minute benefit will be available

Under the new rule of railways, now when general reservation opens, for the first 15 minutes, only users linked to Aadhaar will be able to book tickets from the IRCTC website or app. This includes sleeper and AC tickets. Till now, this system has been implemented only for Tatkal tickets.

There was a change in the rule for Tatkal ticket.

Actually, from July 1 this year, the railways have made Aadhaar verification mandatory for booking Tatkal tickets from the IRCTC website and app. According to the plan, the OTP received on the mobile had to be entered for Tatkal ticket booking through computerized passenger reservation centers and authorized agents.

At the same time, to prevent bulk booking, ticketing agents are not allowed to book opening-day Tatkal tickets during the first 30 minutes of the booking window. This restriction is from 10 am to 10:30 am for the AC class and from 11 am to 11:30 am for the non-AC class. However, this type of arrangement has not been implemented in general tickets.

How will the ticket be booked now under the new rule?

For example, if a passenger has to book a ticket in Humsafar Express from New Delhi to Prayagraj for December 2, then the booking window will open at 12:20 pm on October 2. Between 12:20 pm and 12:35 pm, only Aadhaar-linked users will be able to book tickets for this train account. Without Aadhaar authentication, people will not be able to make any booking during these crucial 15 minutes.

How will passengers benefit?

During major festivals like Dussehra, Diwali, Chhath Puja, and Holi, as well as the wedding season, train tickets are in great demand, especially when the booking window opens 60 days before the date of travel. This creates a competition among the passengers trying to get tickets through general booking. In such a situation, now only those passengers will get the facility to book tickets through the website or app, whose account will be Aadhaar-verified. According to sources related to the railway, the new rule is expected to make the booking process more transparent and reduce fraudulent bookings during these busy times.

What options do other people have?

According to the information, people whose IRCTC account is not linked to Aadhaar will be able to book tickets 15 minutes after the window opens. But for the first 15 minutes, they will not have access to the facility to book tickets online.

No change in the counter ticket

Railways has changed the general ticket process only for users booking online from the IRCTC website or app. No change has been made in the ticket booking process from the railway counter. Ticket booking will be done at the PRS counter as before.

Agent ban will continue.

No exemption has been given to agents in the new railway rules. Railway authorized agents will not be able to book tickets for the first 10 minutes after the reservation opens. For the new rules of ticket booking, technical changes will be made in the systems of the Centre for Railway Information System (CRIS) and IRCTC.

An official source associated with the railways said, "The government is constantly taking steps to make the railway ticketing system transparent. In the recent past, many big steps have been taken by the Railway Ministry to ensure that the common passengers get the full benefit of the facilities provided by the government. Changes in the existing ticketing system are a part of this process. The government is trying to ensure that the benefits of the reservation system reach the common people directly, and some people are not able to misuse it; hence these steps have been taken. In the coming times, efforts will continue to make the system more transparent and corruption free."

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