What will happen if your IRCTC account isn't linked to your Aadhaar card? How long will you be unable to book tickets?

Millions of people travel by train every day across the country. As soon as reservations open, seats fill up within minutes. Often, ordinary passengers are unable to get tickets.

If you travel by train and use IRCTC to book tickets online, let us tell you that Indian Railways has made significant changes to the rules to make online ticket booking more transparent, secure, and convenient for ordinary travelers. These new rules will directly impact those who have not yet linked their IRCTC account with their Aadhaar card.

Millions of people travel by train every day across the country. As soon as reservations open, seats fill up within minutes. Often, ordinary passengers are unable to get tickets because brokers and fake accounts have already booked tickets. To address this problem, the Railways has made Aadhaar verification mandatory. Now, if your IRCTC account isn't linked to Aadhaar, you won't be able to book tickets on time. So let's find out what will happen if your IRCTC account isn't linked to your Aadhaar card, and how long you won't be able to book tickets.

What is the new rule?

Indian Railways and IRCTC have decided that only passengers whose IRCTC account is verified with an Aadhaar card will receive priority in reservation bookings that open 60 days in advance. This means that as soon as train bookings open, tickets will only be booked through Aadhaar-linked accounts. The new rule came into effect on January 5th. Under this rule, passengers whose IRCTC account isn't linked to Aadhaar will be unable to book tickets online between 8:00 AM and 4:00 PM. Such users will only be allowed to book tickets after 4:00 PM. Those whose accounts are verified with Aadhaar will be able to book tickets only after 8:00 AM. This means that if your account isn't linked to Aadhaar, you could miss the best time to get a confirmed ticket.

What happens if Aadhaar isn't linked?

If you haven't linked your IRCTC account to Aadhaar, you won't be able to book tickets in the early hours of reservation. Your chances of getting a confirmed ticket will be significantly reduced. After January 12th, ticket booking will be discontinued throughout the day. Booking tickets online without an Aadhaar-linked account will become nearly impossible.

How long will you be unable to book tickets?

From now until January 11th, users without an Aadhaar-linked account will be unable to book reserved tickets online between 8:00 AM and 4:00 PM. From January 12th onward, users without an Aadhaar-linked IRCTC account will be unable to book tickets from 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM, the entire day. After January 12th, online ticket booking from an account without an Aadhaar-linked account will be completely discontinued. However, if you link your account to Aadhaar, you can book tickets starting at 8:00 AM every day. The chances of getting a confirmed ticket with reservation will be higher. This change applies only to online ticket booking. However, OTP verification on your mobile number will now be required even when purchasing tickets at railway counters. It may be necessary to link the mobile number with Aadhaar.