If the move by Indian Railways is implemented in letter and spirit, passengers will benefit. Why?

Indian Railways is planning to mandate Aadhaar verification for all IRCTC accounts for booking tatkal tickets.

The Railway Ministry has authorised the Centre for Railway Information System (CRIS) to authenticate a passenger's Aadhaar ID to establish his or her identity.

This means only Aadhar verified accounts will be allowed to book online tatkal tickets. Indian Railways passengers will require an Aadhar based OTP authentication for booking.

A Gazette notification dated May 27, 2025, said, "The Ministry of Railways, Railway Board, hereby notifies that the Centre for Railway Information System (CRIS) be allowed to perform Aadhaar authentication, on a voluntary basis, to establish the identity of ticket-checking staff, crew members and passengers, using Yes/No or eKYC authentication facility."

Counter based tatkal ticket may also be booked after Aadhar verification to control malpractices. “Indian Railways will soon start using e-Aadhaar authentication to book Tatkal tickets. This will help genuine users get confirmed tickets during need," said Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.

Almost a week after the notification, on June 4, 2025, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw posted on his X account, "Bharatiya Railways will soon start using e-Aadhaar authentication to book Tatkal tickets. This will help genuine users get confirmed tickets during needed," Vaishnaw added.

At present, IRCTC does get Aadhaar authentication done through a third party, but after the Gazette notification, it will be much easier and faster to get the authentication done. "Ticket-checking staff and crew members have also been brought under its ambit for official purposes," a railway official told PTI.

The Railway Ministry also issued a press statement in which it said that currently, there are more than 130 million active railway subscribers on the IRCTC website, of which only 12 million are Aadhaar-verified.

"IRCTC has decided to conduct special verification for all accounts that are not authenticated with Aadhaar. Accounts found to be suspicious will be closed. The railways aim to ensure that genuine passengers receive all types of Tatkal tickets," it said.

IRCTC Tatkal Ticket Booking: Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw posted on his X account, ‘Bharatiya Railways will soon start using e-Aadhaar authentication to book Tatkal tickets. This will help genuine users get confirmed tickets when needed.’