IRCTC New Rules: If you also book tickets online, especially Tatkal tickets, then be careful now. Railways has now taken a big step regarding online booking. Actually, many people book tickets using scripts or automated tools, due to which the common man is not able to get tickets. Now the Railways has geared up to clean this system and for this the help of Artificial Intelligence i.e. AI is being taken.
So the matter is simple – if your IRCTC account is not linked to Aadhaar, then your account can also be closed. This decision has been taken by the Railways so that fake and bogus accounts can be removed and only real passengers can get the facility of tickets.
Investigation of fast booking being done on IRCTC?
Talking about Tatkal ticket booking, lakhs of people book tickets through online medium every day. Recently, from 24 May to 2 June, the railways prepared a pattern of Tatkal ticket booking of AC class, in which shocking figures came to light.
This report revealed that as soon as the Tatkal window opens, thousands of tickets are booked in the first minute itself. Now you think, is it possible for a common man to login so fast, fill in the details, enter the OTP and book the ticket? Actually, all this is being done through script or software, which the railways are now trying to catch.
About 62 percent of the tickets are booked in the first 10 minutes and 86% of the tickets disappear within an hour. Not only this, the situation is the same in non-AC class as well. There too, two-thirds of the tickets are booked in the first 10 minutes. Now it is clear from this that many people booking tickets are using auto tools, due to which the general public is facing a lot of difficulty.
What is the action plan of the railways?
Now the railways have started a strict campaign against such script users and fake accounts. For this, a special software has been developed, which has closed more than 2.4 crore such accounts in the last 6 months. Not only this, there are about 20 lakh more such accounts which are being looked at with suspicion and their documents are being checked.
This is a clear indication that the railways are now engaged in making this system transparent and honest for the common passengers.
Why is verification of IRCTC account with Aadhaar necessary?
There are more than 13 crore active accounts on the IRCTC website at present, but only 1.2 crore of these accounts are verified with Aadhaar. The railways will now scan all the remaining accounts, and those which are not verified will be closed.
The aim of the railways is clear – whoever is a genuine passenger and has linked his IRCTC account with Aadhaar, will get priority in Tatkal booking. That is, as soon as the window opens, only verified users will get a chance to book tickets for the first 10 minutes. This will shut down the shop of those who block tickets by running scripts.
Not only this, the authorized agents of IRCTC will also now get permission to book Tatkal tickets only 10 minutes after the window opens. This means that now the public will get more opportunities and there will be no need to rely on the agent.
What to do if you have not done verification yet?
If you want your account to remain active, and you can book tickets easily, then first go to your IRCTC account and link it to Aadhaar. This process is very easy. Login, go to your profile and enter the Aadhaar card number and do OTP verification. That’s it, the work is done.
If you do not complete these steps and the railways considers your account to be fake, then the account can be closed without any notice.