India, June 18 -- The Indian Railways has updated the Tatkal ticket booking system starting July 1, 2025, to reduce misuse by agents and bots. From this date, passengers must link their Aadhaar number to their IRCTC account to book Tatkal tickets online. This move aims to make ticket booking more transparent and help genuine last-minute travellers to get a seat.

On 10 June 2025, the Ministry of Railways issued this guideline instructing all zonal railways to enforce Aadhaar-based authentication. Users will also need to complete an Aadhaar-based OTP verification process. This step will restrict unauthorised bookings made using automated tools, as well as those made by agents who set their own rates and sometimes demand up to three times t...