With an aim to enhance transparency, eliminate fraud, and provide a level playing field for all in emergency train travel, the Railway Ministry has made major changes to the Tatkal ticket reservation system, which have come into effect from July 1, 2025. As per the new rules, only users who have registered their Aadhaar number in their IRCTC account will be able to book Tatkal tickets online, ushering in a new era of digitally verified travel in India. Linking an IRCTC account with Aadhaar makes reservations fast and efficient.

This change, which was issued as an official directive to all zonal railways on June 10, 2025, is part of a larger effort to prevent the rampant misuse of Tatkal tickets by unauthorized agents and bots. While the Indian Railways has further strengthened this move by adding a layer of Aadhaar-based OTP authentication from July 15, 2025, to benefit genuine last-minute travellers, this change has been made to prevent misuse of Tatkal tickets.

Here we will know how you can link your Aadhaar card to an IRCTC account.

Here is the step-by-step process:

First of all, log in to your IRCTC portal: https://www.irctc.co.in

Sign in with your user ID and password. After this, you will reach your IRCTC account.

Click on the My Account option and then select My Profile.

Select the Aadhar KYC option from the list.

Now enter your 12-digit Aadhaar number in the box and tick the consent box given on the screen. By doing this, IRCTC will verify your identity through UIDAI.

An OTP will be sent to the mobile number linked to your Aadhaar.

Enter the OTP in the box and click on Confirm.

As soon as your details are verified, your KYC info will appear on the screen.

Go to Authenticate User and check if your Aadhaar is verified or not.

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