Ticket Booking Rules- Big news for train passengers. Indian Railways has made a big change in the online ticket booking system. From October 1, 2025, only those people whose Aadhaar verification has been done will be able to book tickets online in the first 15 minutes after the reservation opens. This rule will be applicable on both IRCTC website and mobile app.
The railways’ objective behind this decision is clear that genuine passengers should be given priority in the initial race of ticket booking. It has often been seen that as soon as the ticketing opens, seats are booked in advance with the help of agents or software, which causes problems to common passengers. Now only genuine passengers will be able to book tickets immediately through Aadhaar verification.
What will happen to counter and agent bookings?
There will be no change in the timing of ticket booking at the reservation counter of the railway station. At the same time, as before, the authorized agents of the railways will not be able to book tickets for the first 10 minutes after the ticket opening. That is, for 15 minutes, Aadhaar verified users and for 10 minutes after that, the common passenger will get more priority than the agent.
Technical changes and promotional plans
The Railways has ordered the Center for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) and IRCTC to make technical changes. Along with this, a large-scale campaign will be run to inform passengers about the new rules. The Railway Ministry has sent a circular regarding this decision to all divisions.
After this change, transparency in online ticketing is expected to increase. The biggest benefit will be for those passengers who were not able to get confirmed tickets many times due to agents. While Aadhaar linking will stop fraud on one hand, genuine passengers will get a better chance of getting a seat in the initial slot. Railway officials say that this step will make e-ticketing more secure and will also stop the practice of booking tickets from fake accounts. In the coming time, IRCTC can work on a plan to strengthen Aadhaar based ticketing further.
