Compulsory Aadhaar authentication for Tatkal tickets from July 1: What are the new railway rules?

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The Indian Railways has announced that from July 1, only Aadhaar authenticated users will be able to book Tatkal tickets. This is being implemented to curb unverified hoarding of tickets by various booking agents, that was a regular practice earlier, reports have said.

In a June 10, 2025 directive to all the railway zones, the Railway Ministry has said that this requirement aims "to ensure that the benefits of the Tatkal Scheme are received by the common end users".

"With effect from 01-07-2025, tickets under Tatkal scheme can be booked through the website of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC)/ its app only by Aadhaar authenticated users," the official communication from the Railways said.

The ministry has also said that from July 15, 2025, the passengers would be required to go through with an additional Aadhaar-based OTP authentication step to initiate their Tatkal bookings.

• The train tickets that are under the Indian Railways' Tatkal scheme will, from July 1, be exclusively available for booking through the IRCTC website or mobile application. This would be available only for those passengers who have completed their Aadhaar authentication process.
• From July 15, 2025, the passengers will have to undergo an additional Aadhaar-based OTP authentication step to make their Tatkal bookings successfully.
• The Railway Ministry directive has also mentioned restrictions for the authorised ticketing agents in regards to the Tatkal bookings. The agents will be put on probation for securing first-day Tatkal tickets in the first 30-minute window that opens for ticket bookings.
• The restrictions for the agents will be from 10:00 am to 10:30 am for air-conditioned classes and from 11.00 am to 11.30 am for non-air-conditioned classes.