Key points
- OTP verification has been made compulsory for Tatkal tickets booked at physical reservation counters, with tickets issued only after successful mobile OTP validation.
- The system started as a pilot from November 17 on a few services and has now been extended to 52 trains, with a nationwide rollout planned in the coming days.
- Each Tatkal booking will now be tightly linked to a passenger’s mobile number, making it harder for touts and illegal agents to bulk book and resell tickets.
- This move builds on earlier steps, including Aadhaar based OTP checks for online Tatkal bookings and time restricted online booking access for non verified users.
Under the new system, anyone seeking a Tatkal ticket at a station counter must provide a valid mobile number on the reservation form, and the booking will not proceed until a one time password sent to that number is correctly entered by the passenger. Railways officials say this direct link between ticket and mobile identity will sharply reduce fraudulent bookings, identity misuse, and the use of proxy details by touts who earlier exploited manual counter processes.
The mechanism was first introduced as a pilot project on November 17 for a small set of routes, then quickly scaled up to 52 trains after successful testing, and the ministry has confirmed that this OTP based counter booking will now be expanded to all remaining trains in phases. Authorities describe it as a major modernisation of the legacy counter system, aligning it with the digital checks already present on IRCTC’s website and app.
Wider ticketing reforms
Railways officials emphasise that the counter OTP rule is part of a broader crackdown on ticketing fraud that began with online reforms earlier this year, including mandatory Aadhaar linked OTP verification for Tatkal bookings on IRCTC from July. From October, only Aadhaar authenticated users have been allowed to book reserved general tickets during the first 15 minutes of opening on the IRCTC portal, with non verified users pushed to later slots so that bots and bulk agents cannot jump the queue.
By combining mobile based OTP checks at counters with Aadhaar based authentication online, the Railways expects that last minute Tatkal seats will become more accessible to genuine last moment travellers, especially during festival rush and holiday peaks, while touts find it increasingly difficult to operate.
