Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday said that the Indian Railways will soon start using e-Aadhaar authentication to book Tatkal tickets. He added that the move will help genuine users get confirmed tickets during need.
He said this as the Indian Railways is planning to make the tatkal ticket booking process more robust by making some of the rules more stringent, like only Aadhar verified accounts will be allowed to book online Tatkal tickets, Aadhar based OTP authentication shall also be required for booking.
Moreover, the counter based tatkal ticket may also be booked after Aadhar verification to control malpractices. Reports suggest that the rollout of this new system is expected to begin later this month.
The move from the Indian Railways will curb misuse and scalping of tatkal tickets, thereby increasing the availability of train tickets for genuine passengers under the tatkal quota.
With linking bookings to e-Aadhaar verification, authorities hope to ensure a more transparent and fair ticketing process.
It should be noted that the tatkal tickets have often been subject to hoarding and automated bookings by agents using unfair means. However, the new e-Aadhaar authentication will require passengers to verify their identity digitally at the time of booking which will help the Indian Railways to curb fraudulent transactions and make the process more passenger-friendly.
