Features of Tatkal Scheme in Indian Railway
To facilitate reservations for passengers who need to travel on short notice and to protect them from unscrupulous agents and touts, the Tatkal Reservation Scheme was initially introduced in December 1997. Details of Tatkal Ticket Booking are here.
Changes in Tatkal Booking From 01.07.2025
- Online Tatkal Bookings will now require Aadhaar Authentication
- OTP Authentication at PRS counters and Agents from 15.07.2025.
- Booking Time Restriction will be rusticated for Authorised Agents.
Indian Railways has announced that changes in Tatkal booking scheme and will come into effect from 1st July 2025. The detailed guidelines are attached.
New Tatkal Bookings
- For Aadhaar Users : Starting from July 1, 2025, Tatkal bookings on the IRCTC website or mobile app will be allowed only for users who are authenticated using Aadhaar. OTP-based Aadhaar verification will be implemented from July 15, 2025.
- For Non-Aadhaar Users – PRS Counter and Agent Booking :
- From July 15, 2025, Tatkal bookings made at PRS counters or through authorized agents (YTSK) will require OTP verification sent to the mobile number of the person booking the ticket.
- Travel Agents: Authorized agents will not be allowed to book Tatkal tickets during the first 30 minutes of the Tatkal booking opening.
- For AC classes: Booking restriction will be from 10:00 AM to 10:30 AM.
- For Non-AC classes: Booking restriction will be from 11:00 AM to 11:30 AM.
Features of Tatkal Ticket Booking
The salient features of this scheme as on date are as under:-
- Tatkal booking for✅ AC classes opens at ✅ 10.00 hours on the previous day of journey excluding date of journey from the train originating station. ✅ For non-AC classes, Tatkal booking starts at ✅ 11.00 hours on the previous day of journey excluding date of journey from the train originating station. (For example, if train is to depart from the originating station on the second of the month, the Tatkal quota for that particular train shall open at 10.00/11.00 hours on the first of the month.)
- The reservation under this scheme is available only upto the time of preparation of charts. At the time of preparation of charts, the vacant Tatkal accommodation is released to the RAC / waitlisted passengers and no Tatkal charges are realised from such passengers.
- The facility of ✅ change of name is not permitted on the bookings made under Tatkal scheme.
- No ✅ duplicate Tatkal tickets are issued. Duplicate Tatkal tickets are issued only in exceptional cases on payment of full fare including Tatkal charges.
- The reservation under this scheme can be sought by full fare paying passengers only and no passenger holding ✅ concessional ticket is allowed to avail reservation under this scheme.
- In case of tickets booked under Tatkal scheme, during the journey, one of the passengers booked on that ticket is required to produce any one of the prescribed proof of identity (in original), failing which all the passengers booked on that ticket are considered as travelling without ticket and charged accordingly.
- Tatkal tickets are issued subject to the applicable distance restrictions.
Tatkal Charges
- Tatkal charges have been fixed as a percentage of fare at the rate of 10% of basic fare for second class and 30% of basic fare for all other classes subject to minimum and maximum as given in the table below:-
| Class of Travel | Minimum Tatkal Charges (in Rs.) | Maximum Tatkal Charges (in Rs.) | Minimum Distance for Charges (in Km) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reserved Second Sitting (25) | 10 | 15 | 100 |
| Sleeper | 100 | 200 | 500 |
| AC Chair Car | 125 | 225 | 250 |
| AC – 3 Tier | 300 | 400 | 500 |
| AC-2 Tier | 400 | 500 | 500 |
| Executive | 400 | 500 | 250 |
