The Indian Railway Ministry has introduced a one-time password (OTP) system for Tatkal train tickets booked at reservation counters to curb misuse and ensure fair access for genuine passengers.
Flyers faced a double blow as air fares on Air India flights out of Delhi and those of SpiceJet soared past Rs 1 lakh one-way on some routes, and even those showed 'sold out' despite the airlines adding capacity.
"The new upgraded Passenger Reservation System (PRS) will allow over 1.5 lakh ticket bookings per minute. This will be an increase of roughly five times from 32,000 tickets per minute in the current PRS," it added.
The period of advance booking under the Tatkal Scheme is being reduced from the current 5 days to 2 days. Tatkal tickets will be made available destination-wise instead of from end to end thereby reducing the financial burden on passengers.
The new Tatkal booking scheme in which the train reservation period has been reduced to one day from two days will come into effect from Monday.
In a written reply to a question on 'Revenue Generated under Tatkal Scheme', Minister of State for Railways Bharatsinh Solanki told Rajya Sabha on Friday that 'The revenue generated by Railways under Tatkal scheme during 2009-10 was Rs 672 crore (Rs 6.72 billion).
The Railways on Monday announced that Tatkal reservation on trains will open only two days before the journey, instead of the past practice of when Tatkal tickets were available five days in advance.
Officials in the railway ministry are discussing a proposal by Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee to cut the premium on Tatkal (instant) tickets and reduce its booking period to give the railway budget an aam aadmi touch.
Contrary to expectations, the revised fare structure under the 'Tatkal' scheme of the railways has given a boost to the ticketing earnings of the railways.
The 'Premium Tatkal Ticket scheme' became operational in 80 trains from October 1 and is available only for online bookings.
Indian Railways has decided to extend Tatkal reservation scheme to all Mail and Express trains in both AC and non-AC classes and bookings for the scheme will begin from November 14.
The Railways have decided to hike the 'Tatkal charges' payable by passengers undertaking train journey at short notice from November 14, railway sources said on Thursday.
Passengers have been long complaining of the IRCTC website crashing as soon as the booking commences in the morning.
Kurumbur in gold-loving Tamil Nadu was once a thriving centre for goldsmiths. Today their number is down to two.
Under the faster clearance route, application fees for individuals and start-ups have been kept at Rs 8,000 while for companies, it could be as much as Rs 60,000.
I-T dept launches Tatkal system for those who desire to help the victims of the earthquake in Nepal.
Also on the cards is tweaking the age criteria by extending the concessional fare to those above 70 years, as against the earlier 58 for women and 60 for men, they said.
Fight the high season and ridiculous prices with these simple and easy travel hacks.
Lalu Prasad, in his tenure, had more than doubled the number of tatkal seats, and thereby had taken out the number of berths available under normal reservation. The additional tatkal seats that are thrown open for reservation at the last moment came at a premium of Rs 75-300 and earned more revenue for the Indian Railways. Some, however, allege that this reduced the chances for passengers to buy cheaper tickets in advance.
The railways has, however, capped the waiting list on these trains -- up to 100 for AC 3 tier, 50 for AC 2 tier, 200 for Sleeper Class, 100 for chair cars, and 20 each for First AC and Executive Class.
The CBI said the software enables the user to save all required details to book Tatkal tickets beforehand.
Asked to share details of income from all its 16 zones, especially through tatkal, ticket cancellation and bed roll charges
New service will also make waitlisted tickets a thing of the past.
The deadline of March 31 has been postponed till the apex court delivers its final judgment.
The idea is to shift the opening of tatkal bookings to 10 am instead of 8 am.
'No linen, blankets and curtains shall be provided inside the train. Passengers are advised to carry their own linen,' an order by the Railways said. The order also said that there would be no provision of 'tatkal' and 'premium tatkal' accommodation and there will be very few stoppages during the journey.
Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu tabled the Railway Budget on Thursday
While in a statement issued earlier, the Railways had said that these trains will be fully non-air conditioned, on Wednesday it said that these will have both AC and non-AC classes and fully reserved coaches.
Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal did not hike passenger fares.
Presenting the Interim Railway Budget for 2014-15, Mallikarjun Kharge announced that new trains will be introduced.
Passengers travelling in trains will have to pay more from Monday as the hike in reservation fee and superfast charges comes into effect from April 1.
Only registered IRCTC users can use these services as of now. Currently, Indian railways don't allow Mobile ticket booking between 8 am to 12 pm.
State Bank of India on Friday launched an initiative to provide doorstep services and expedite home loans application process.
Faced with increasing incidents of misuse of tickets, Railways have made it mandatory for all passengers travelling in AC classes to carry an identity proof with them.
The special checks have been launched in all major reservation counters across the country between 7.30 am and 9 am, during which there is huge rush of passengers.
The project will be spread over six years and TCS will implement end-to-end service of the programme, TCS CEO S Ramadorai said. The deal, which was finalised in the presence of Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon, will ensure that passports are delivered in three working days after police verification.
The issue of shortage of blank passport booklets leading to inordinate delay in issuance of passports figured in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday with members demanding immediate intervention of the government.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances