IRCTC New TATKAL Rule from 1 July 2025

Starting July 1, 2025, Aadhaar authentication is mandatory for all Tatkal ticket bookings via IRCTC's website and mobile app. Passengers must link their Aadhaar with their IRCTC user ID and verify it successfully. From July 15, 2025, all Tatkal bookings made at computerised PRS counters and through authorised agents will require OTP authentication sent to the mobile number provided during booking.

  Aadhaar authentication for online Tatkal bookings

Tatkal tickets purchased via IRCTC's official website and mobile app will only be accessible to individuals who have successfully authenticated with Aadhaar as of July 1, 2025. This means that passengers must link their Aadhaar number with their IRCTC user profile and verify it successfully to be able to book Tatkal tickets online. Further, Aadhaar-based OTP authentication will become mandatory for Tatkal bookings made online starting 15th July 2025. 

 System-based OTP Authentication at counters and agents Starting July 15, 2025, all Tatkal tickets booked at computerised Passenger Reservation System (PRS) counters and through authorised railway agents will require an extra layer of verification through OTP (One-Time Password) authentication. 

 Booking time restriction for authorised agents

 To ensure fair access to Tatkal tickets for regular passengers, Indian Railways has imposed a time restriction on authorised ticketing agents during the initial phase of Tatkal bookings. Under the new rule, authorised agents will not be allowed to book Tatkal tickets during the first 30 minutes of the booking window on the day Tatkal bookings open. The rule applies as follows: For AC classes: Agents cannot book tickets between 10:00 AM and 10:30 AM. For non-AC classes: Agents cannot book tickets between 11:00 AM and 11:30 AM.

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Now no longer need to carry baggage to Railways Station : Baggage pick and Drop Service by Indian Railways.

 There is good news for those traveling on the train. Railway passengers no longer need to carry baggage from home to railway station. Railways themselves are going to arrange this. This facility will be the first implemented on  East Central Railway (ECR) Patna across the country, from where this service will start.

Indian Railways is planning to do pick up and home delivery of goods from Passenger's home. After implementation of the scheme, any passenger can book their luggage through the Nodal Agency's app or through the railway website. After this, the stress of transporting and bringing goods from the house to the station will be reduced, you will not have to suffer even the pressure of the coolies. The traveler surrounded by the porters feels very trapped. Indian Railways has taken the initiative to remove this pain of passengers

Railways said that with the new decision, passengers traveling by train will get rid of the worry of transporting goods from home or transporting goods from the station to the house, along with the porters will not be worried about the rate. Now the railway will transport your goods from home to berths and other cities. Danapur Railway Division of East Central Railway has approved this new facility.

How will the luggage booking works- Travelers will have the option of booking on the agency's app and website. The app has to be downloaded to Android Mobile. The size, weight and other information of the bag will have to be given. It will be charged accordingly. The fee will be determined according to the distance and weight from the station. The maximum distance for this will be 50 kilometers and the lowest rate will be 125 rupees.

A distance of 10 km and a side charge of minimum 10 kg bag will be Rs 125. There will also be a prescribed fee of the porter to carry the goods to the berth. If there will be more than one (maximum of five) luggage, then the fee for the first luggage will be Rs 125 and for the rest Rs 50-50. The agency will also facilitate the wrapping and sanitization of luggage. With GPS system, you will be able to track your luggage, along with baggage insurance.

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Railways to start special Train to move migrant worker who are stranded due to lock down

Railways start Shramik Special Trains to move migrant workers, pilgrims, tourists, students and other persons stranded at different places due to lock down.‬

‪These special trains will be run from point to point on the request of both the concerned State Governments

https://pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetail.aspx?PRID=1620027

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Now Connecting Journey Booking available online :Link PNR number of connecting Journey online

 (IRCTC) website and mobile app have introduced a new feature from  where one can link the PNR numbers of two connecting journeys. This is in cases where people have booked tickets between a pair of stations for which direct trains may not be available on that particular date.
This will help passengers to get a refund if they miss their second train because the first train is delayed. This is similar to how international flights operate, which ensure passengers are given a different flight if the connecting flight on the same airline is delayed.

However, telescopic benefit will not be given to the passenger booking interconnected journey. In Indian Railways, as one travels a longer distance, the price of the journey per km decreases, which is known as telescopic fare.

Take the case of a passenger who has booked a ticket from Pune to Dhanbad in two inter-linked journeys - Pune to Howrah and Howrah to Dhanbad. In case the train from Pune is delayed and arrives after the train to Dhanbad has departed, the passenger will be able to avail a full refund for the latter journey.
This facility is now available on the IRCTC app and website. To use this, one has to click on the menu link on the IRCTC website and click on ‘Trains’. A drop-down menu will show ‘Connecting Journey Booking’.
For booking a connecting journey ticket, one has to first book the first journey ticket.
This can be an e-ticket or a paper ticket bought at the contact. While booking the connecting journey ticket, IRCTC will ask for the PNR number of the first journey ticket, which has to be entered.

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Now Indian Railways to display vaccant seat online after charting .

In order to implement transprency in seat reservation after charting ,Indian Railways has started displaying reserved charts online to allow its passengers to see the status of seats while booking a particular train.

The user-friendly interface will give graphical representation of the train coaches and berth-wise accommodation status on <http://www.irctc.co.in> website. There is option for chart /Vaccany . On click of this button ,it will ask for train number of name . After entering it will display the seat status.
reservation charts will now be available for public viewing on the internet and will facilitate the prospective passengers in getting the information of the vacant berths available in the train after the preparation of the chart.

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Windows XP ,Windows server 2003 user will not able to access IRCTC portal

IRCTC website is now migrated to TLS 1.2 which will not be supported by Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 operating system. Hence user who is having these operating system will not be able to access IRCTC website anymore!

TLS 1.2 is not be supported by Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 operating system.Such Users may upgrade their operating systems higher than Windows XP/Server 2003 in order to use IRCTC portal.

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Missed you connecting Train ,Don't worry you can travel in another train without extra payment.

If the train you are traveling is late for some reason and you missed the onward train connection because of this,you can approach the Station Manager on duty and ask him to issue a late arrival certificate. With this certificate you can seek alternative in other trains going towards your destination subject to seat availability .You need not to pay any extra money. Suppose you have booked Ticket from A to B Station in X train .Another Ticket you have booked from B to C in Y Train . Due to some reason X train got delayed and you Y train from Station B got missed. In that case you can ask Station Master of Station B to issue you a Late Arrival Certificate. This certificate will help you to travel in another train from B to C without payment of any extra charge.

Late arrival certificate is a certificate issued by the station in-charge on request for claiming refund also. If onward journey is missed due to late arrival, the late arrival certificate can be utilized for the alternative arrangements in another train for preference to get accommodation.This is also can be used to claim DA,TA to rounding of to maximum eligibility for so called overstay accusations.

This is nothing new facility by Indian railways but most of people don't know about this facility.

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