IRCTC New Rules: Know Before Booking Train Ticket

IRCTC New Rules October 1: Millions of Indians travel long-distance by rail. The Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation, or IRCTC, is among the busiest train networks in the world that ensure smooth services on their end and also check exploitation of the system. The IRCTC keeps on changing its rules from time to time. From October 1, the rules will be applicable to general booking of train tickets. Passengers should know these changes before embarking on their journey.

Aadhaar for General Ticket Booking Now Mandatory

The biggest change from October 1 is that Aadhaar must now be verified even for general tickets. In the past, with regards to online booking of general tickets, passengers did not have to link their Aadhaar as opposed to sleeper and AC tickets, where Aadhaar was already compulsory. Now, passengers will not be able to continue unless their general tickets booking is linked and verified with Aadhaar on the IRCTC site or IRCTC mobile apps. This change was enforced to ensure authenticity and to prevent misuse of online bookings.

Linking Aadhaar with IRCTC

Linking Aadhaar with your account on IRCTC is really a simple thing to do.

IRCTC website or mobile app may be opened and logged in with your username and password.

In the menu available, click on “My Account.”

Click on the “Aadhaar KYC” option.

Input your Aadhaar number and click on “Send OTP.”

Now enter the OTP received on your registered mobile number and click on Submit.

Then, a success message for Aadhaar linking should appear.

After this, passengers can get back to booking general e-tickets online.

Reasons for Changes

The reason for the introduction of the above ticketing systems was to curb the black marketing of tickets and dealing by intermediaries. Aadhaar verification works because only genuine passengers can book tickets, making the system transparent and fair. Certainly, the above will apply only to online booking; passengers will still book without this in person at railway counters.

Also Read: IRCTC Online Ticket Booking Sees Major Change from October 1

The last update marks yet another endeavor of IRCTC to maintain its passengers’ safety, transparency, and convenience. For a stress-free journey, travelers shall make sure that they have linked their Aadhaar before online ticket booking.