Aadhaar OTP verification a must for ‘tatkal’ ticket booking in HP

The Railways has made Aadhaar OTP verification mandatory for online ‘tatkal’ ticket booking in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.

Uchit Singhal, Senior Divisional Commercial Manager, Jammu Division of the Northern Railway, said that amendments to the ‘tatkal’ booking system had been made to make tickets accessible to passengers in a transparent manner.

He said that the Aadhaar OTP verification had now become mandatory for online ‘tatkal’ booking of the Railways tickets. The passengers would not be able to get ‘tatkal’ tickets without the verification of OTP, he added.

Under the new system, ‘tatkal’ tickets would be available for booking through the IRCTC’s official website and the mobile app or Indian Railways’ PRS counters or authorised agents only after authentication of the OTP generated by the Railway Reservation System.

Those taking ‘tatkal’ tickets would now have to carry a mobile phone with SIM card linked with their Aadhaar numbers while booking tickets.

An official said that the step had been taken to prevent bulk booking of tickets during the initial period of rail reservation. He added that authorised ticketing agents of the Indian Railways would not be allowed to book ‘tatkal’ tickets during the first 30 minutes of the booking window. “This restriction will be applicable from 10 am to 10.30 am in AC class and from 11 am to 11.30 am for non-AC class”, Singhal added. He appealed to the residents of Himachal Pradesh and J&K to take note of these changes and ensure that their profiles were linked with their Aadhaar numbers to avoid inconvenience.