Railways does not need Tatkal reform, it needs more tracks and expanded capacity

The Tatkal system, designed for urgent travel, often feels like a lottery.

By Shrayas R 

The Ministry of Railways recently announced that from July 2025, travellers will need Aadhaar-verified profiles to book Tatkal tickets and will be required to receive an OTP on their Aadhaar-linked mobile numbers. This initiative aims to help common end users better benefit from Tatkal while deterring access by unauthorised agents and touts. However, is imposing a blanket Aadhaar mandate the right solution to this problem?

The Ministry’s approach, treating this issue from a "fixed pie" perspective and prioritising the redistribution of a fixed quota of Tatkal tickets, distracts from the fundamental issue: the reduced supply in a system where demand is continually increasing. In 2023-24, total revenue from Tatkal, Flexi, and Premium Tatkal tickets exceeded Rs4,000 crores, increasing by approximately Rs 400 crores from 2022-23. The focus, therefore, should not be on intricate rationing mechanisms but on developing a comprehensive strategy to increase the number of trains and available seats, expanding the supply for everyone. Only a larger pie can meet India’s burgeoning demand in the long term.

The Tatkal system, designed for urgent travel, often feels like a lottery. About 73% of people who try to book Tatkal tickets report being waitlisted within the first minute. Another study shows that around 30% of passengers turn to travel agents to secure these elusive tickets. This high-demand, low-success environment creates fertile ground for unauthorised agents and touts, who often use sophisticated software to bypass booking restrictions. In the past, this has resulted in hoarding tickets worth about Rs 30 crores. In this context, it is understandable that the Ministry feels compelled to act. This is a clear case where a few disproportionately seize the benefits, distorting the market.

The Ministry’s chosen solution is a directive requiring Aadhaar authentication via OTP at the time of booking. From July 1st, 2025, users will need an Aadhaar-linked profile on IRCTC for online Tatkal bookings. From July 15, 2025, an OTP will be sent to the individual’s Aadhaar-linked mobile number, and this OTP will be mandatory to complete the booking. For offline Tatkal bookings, the process will also change on July 15th, 2025, with OTP authentication required on the mobile number provided during booking. However, the announcement does not clarify whether the mobile number provided at the offline counter must be linked to Aadhaar; a subtle but significant difference. In both online and offline cases, obtaining a Tatkal ticket will become more complex.

This proposed solution amplifies India’s pre-existing 'OTP-first' approach, where access to essential services is gated by time-sensitive codes. It assumes that the mobile number linked to an individual's Aadhaar is current and active. However, many individuals may have changed numbers or may not have access to the number during the booking window. The added complexity of relying on a telecom provider for the timely delivery of an OTP, often plagued by network delays or delivery failures, further complicates the process.

Moreover, there is reason to question whether this system will effectively deter touts. For such operators, whose livelihood depends on circumventing restrictions, there is a powerful financial incentive to adapt. They have demonstrated ingenuity in the past, using sophisticated software, fake virtual numbers, and bogus user IDs to bypass the system. In March 2022, about 1,500 touts were arrested, and tickets worth Rs 65 lakhs were recovered — 3.5 times more than the previous month. It is therefore highly likely that, while this new system will significantly inconvenience the average citizen, it will merely become another obstacle for resourceful touts to overcome, rather than a definitive solution to the problem of ticket diversion.

This probable ineffectiveness in curbing touts highlights a deeper issue with the Ministry's strategy: a focus on managing the symptoms of chronic scarcity rather than addressing the scarcity itself. While the intent to curb distortions caused by ticket diversion is justified, the chosen solution introduces an unreliable and exclusionary step into the booking process without addressing the supply-demand gap that touts exploit. Rather than layering more complexity onto a system already strained by scarcity, the Ministry’s focus should shift towards expanding the size of the pie. Persistent high demand is not a problem to be managed through restrictions, but a market signal calling for systemic expansion.

A concrete roadmap for such an expansion can be found in the Bibek Debroy Committee’s 2015 report on the liberalisation of railways. Debroy’s core idea was to liberalise railway operations by allowing private operators to run services, while the government maintains public ownership of core infrastructure. Inviting private participation could generate significant revenue through track access charges, which could then be reinvested into enhancing publicly owned railway infrastructure. Moreover, premium services offered by private operators could attract passengers from overcrowded classes, easing congestion on public services. The success of a similar approach in India’s airline industry, where private airlines operate using shared airport infrastructure, provides a compelling precedent. With appropriate regulatory oversight, such liberalisation offers a powerful pathway to significantly expand the capacity of the rail network, meeting India’s growing demand and truly becoming the “Lifeline of the Nation”.

(Shrayas R is a public policy graduate, Takshashila Institution and is the head of engineering at a product based company in Chennai.)

Views are personal, and do not represent the stand of this publication.