Railways will soon make OTP mandatory for all Tatkal tickets purchased from reservation counters.

To book tatkal train tickets from railway reservation counters, passengers will now have to provide a one-time password received on their mobile phones, with officials saying the move is aimed at preventing misuse of the last-minute ticket booking facility.

The Railway Ministry on November 17 launched the OTP-based Tatkal ticketing system for journeys booked from reservation counters on a pilot basis. It started with a few trains and soon its number was increased to 52.

This reservation system at counters will be implemented for all the remaining trains in the next few days, the ministry said in a statement.

Accordingly, an OTP-based instant reservation system was proposed to make last-minute ticket-booking facility more convenient for common users.

“Under this system, while booking a Tatkal ticket at the reservation counter, the passenger receives an OTP on the mobile number given in the reservation form. The ticket is confirmed only after successful OTP verification,” the ministry said.

Officials said the initiative aims to prevent misuse of the Tatkal facility and ensure that genuine passengers get better access to high-demand tickets. He said that this is an important step towards increasing transparency, passenger convenience and security in railway ticketing.

Over the past few months, the Railway Ministry has introduced some measures to provide passengers fair access to ticket reservations and to discourage booking agents from exploiting the system for their own benefit.

In July, the Railway Ministry made Aadhaar verification through OTP mandatory for online ticket booking under the Tatkal system across the country. From October 1, it allowed only Aadhaar-authenticated users to book reserved general tickets through the IRCTC website or app during the first 15 minutes after booking opens for any train.

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