IRCTC: Indian Railways is shaking things up with a big change to online ticket booking rules. Starting October 28, 2025, passengers will need to use Aadhaar authentication to book reserved train tickets between 8:00 AM and 10:00 AM. This move is aimed at stopping fraudulent ticket bookings and the issue of booking multiple tickets at once. From now on, only users verified by Aadhaar will be able to book tickets.
The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) announced on its website that beginning October 28, 2025, only Aadhaar-verified users can book reserved tickets during the busy hours of 8 AM to 10 AM every day. This time frame is when the most popular train tickets get snatched up in just minutes after they go on sale.
Because of the high demand for tickets in these two hours, there have been many complaints about fraudulent bookings made by automated software or agents. With this new rule, only Aadhaar-verified users will be able to secure tickets. The Railways hopes this will help eliminate irregularities in train bookings.
IRCTC has made it clear that Aadhaar authentication won’t be necessary for ticket bookings after 10 AM or during the night. This means that anyone can book tickets using their account the old-fashioned way at other times. However, on the first day of reservations, the 8 AM to 10 AM slot will be reserved just for Aadhaar-verified users.
Complete the process like this
Log on to www.irctc.co.in.
Go to the My Account tab and select the Authenticate User option.
Enter your Aadhaar number or Virtual ID. The screen will display your name, date of birth, and gender. Make sure they match your Aadhaar card.
Click on Verify details and receive OTP.
An OTP will come on the mobile number linked to your Aadhaar.
Enter OTP and submit.
After this your Aadhaar authentication process will be completed and Successfully Authenticated message will appear on the screen.
According to the new IRCTC guidelines, starting October 1, 2025, only Aadhaar-verified users will be allowed to book tickets within the first 15 minutes of general reservation ticket booking. This means that general users will not be able to book tickets for the first 15 minutes after ticket booking opens in the morning.