Now, book 12 train tickets with just 1 IRCTC ID if it's Aadhaar-linked!

Indian Railways policy for booking tickets through irctc.co.in have changed. Know IRCTC rules for train ticket

Planning a vacation this summer? If you're excited about taking a train journey, you must know the new rules Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has introduced for booking railways tickets on its online portal. But, before that - link Aadhaar number with your IRCTC account. When IRCTC was launched in 2002, only 29 online tickets were booked on the first day. Today, more than 1.3 million online tickets are booked through IRCTC portal - www.irctc.co.in - the e-ticketing outlet of the national carrier. About 20 million people travel by Indian Railways every day.

Here are some exciting changes Indian Railways has introduced for rail passengers who link their IRCTC account with Aadhaar:

Now users are allowed to book up to 12 tickets in a month if users get themselves verified through their Aadhaar number along with at least one passenger also being verified through Aadhaar.

No Aadhaar Verification required for booking up to 6 tickets in a month, as earlier.

Steps to avail the facility of booking more than 6 tickets and up to 12 tickets in a month on IRCTC:

An IRCTC registered user is required to get himself Aadhaar verified using Aadhaar KYC option in My Profile.

• User’s Aadhaar will be verified by sending an OTP on his mobile number linked with his Aadhaar number. On successful submission of OTP, the user will become Aadhaar verified.

• At least One (1) passenger on the ticket being booked, beyond 6 tickets in a month, should also be Aadhaar verified.

• Users are required to verify the probable passengers through their respective Aadhaar number and store the verified passengers in passenger master list. This should be done before starting the ticket booking process, beyond 6 tickets in a month.

• User can add Aadhaar verified passenger from master list at the time of booking to book additional tickets up to 12 tickets in a month.

Step 1: Verify Aadhaar Number

1. Login using your IRCTC User ID and Password on www.irctc.co.in.

2. Click "Aadhaar KYC" link under "My Profile" menu.

3. Enter Your Aadhaar Number and Click on Send OTP button. OTP would be sent by Aadhaar System (UIDAI) on the mobile number registered with Aadhaar. Please keep your Aadhaar registered mobile number ready.

4. Enter the OTP and click on Verify button

5. Click on submit button to verify KYC details. After submission, your user is Aadhaar verified.

Step 2: Add a Passenger with Aadhaar Number

1. Click "Master List" link under "My Profile" menu.

2. While adding new passengers in the Master List, provide correct and complete details i.e. Name, Date of Birth, Gender and Aadhaar number as mentioned in the Aadhaar Card.

3. Click on “submit” button to Add and verify Aadhaar details. 

4. Passengers will be added in the Master List with Verification Status as “pending”. No OTP will be sent in case of passenger Aadhaar verification

5. To check the verification status of Aadhaar details, please click on “Click here to check pending Aadhaar verification status” option provided.

6. Verification status of passengers who have been verified with their Aadhaar details successfully will be “Verified” and for failed verification status be “Not Verified”.

7. Passengers already available in the Master list without Aadhaar verification can also be verified by using “Edit” option and submitting complete details including Aadhaar number.

Step 3: Select Aadhaar verified passengers during Ticket Booking.

1. To book more than 6 tickets (up to 12 tickets in a month), select at least One (1) Aadhaar verified passenger from Master List and add to the Passenger list while booking a ticket. If you do not have Aadhaar verified passenger in Master List before making 7th ticket & onward in a month, you will be not allowed to book extra tickets (more than 6).

Here's what you need to know about Indian Railways tatkal rules

Booking a tatkal ticket on IRCTC is nothing less than a war. Hence, these are the rules you must know:

As per records, around 1.3 million people book tatkal tickets from IRCTC portal every day and to make things more traveller-friendly IRCTC has modified a few tatkal rules.

1. Tatkal booking opens at 10 AM for AC Classes and 11 AM for NON-AC Classes on one day in advance of the actual date of journey excluding the date of journey.

2. Passengers can claim full refund of fare and Tatkal charges if the train is delayed by more than 3 hours at the journey originating point of the passenger and not the boarding point if the passenger's journey originating point and boarding point are different.

3. Refund will be also given if the train is to run on a diverted route and passenger is not willing to travel. 

4. If the passenger has been accommodated in the lower class and does not want to travel. In case the passenger travels in lower class, the passenger will be given refund of difference of fare and also the difference of Tatkal charges, if any.

Tatkal charges have been fixed as a percentage of fare at the rate of 10 per cent of basic fare for second class and 30 per cent of basic fare for all other classes subject to minimum and maximum.