Indian Railway introduces new Tatkal rules

The Indian Railway has introduced several measures to ensure Tatkal train tickets reach the common man. Booking counters will now open at 10 am instead of 8 am, the day before the journey from the originating station.

"No normal ticket will be issued during this time unless there is no passenger for the Tatkal tickets," an Eastern Railway release said.

ER spokesperson Samir Goswami said Tatkal tickets cannot be booked on internet reservation system during the special time of 10-10.30 am for next day trains.

All travel agents including those of IRCTC will not be allowed to book Tatkal tickets between 10 am to 12 noon from counters as well as on the Internet. There will be separate queues and counters for Tatkal buyers.

CCTVs are being installed at booking centres as well. One will have to carry self attested identity proofs for buying a Tatkal ticket.

The Tatkal revamp comes after the IBN network exposed how touts were cornering these tickets.

Online Tatkal booking made easier:

The Indian Railway has also put in place measures to make online Tatkal bookings easier. High capacity database servers have been installed. The Internet bandwidth has been increased from 344 mbps to 450 mbps.

Web service agents have been permitted to book only one Tatkal ticket per train per day on the internet only after 12 noon. Individual users can now book only two tickets between 10 am and 12 noon

An IT-Anti Fraud Squad has been created. A complaint cell has also been set up. One can email or call these numbers: agentcomplaint@irctc.co.in (011-23745962) or care@irctc.co.in (011-39340000).

(With additional information from PTI)