New Delhi. Indian Railways has completely updated its technology and rules to make the Tatkal Ticket Booking Process transparent and fair. For the past many years, passengers had been complaining that tickets get sold out within a few seconds of the booking starting. Railways claims that with the new system, the chances of genuine passengers getting confirmed tickets will increase significantly.

Under the new rules, now Tatkal tickets can be booked only through fully verified IRCTC account. Now passengers will have to link their IRCTC account with Aadhar card. Accounts without verification or incomplete profiles will be blocked during the immediate window. At the time of booking, the passenger will have to provide the same identity details which are linked to his/her Aadhaar or Government ID. This will stop the trend of booking tickets in fake names and selling them at higher prices.

This time, Railways has also made major changes on the technology front. ‘Sophisticated technical filters’ have been put in place to prevent auto-fill tools and scripts in the first minutes of booking. With this, it will no longer be possible to cancel tickets through software in the blink of an eye. The biggest complaint of passengers was payment failure. In the new system, the payment gateway has been made more fast and secure, which will reduce the fear of ticket cancellation at the last step.

The activities of the agents will be closely monitored in the initial period as soon as the Tatkal window opens. New restrictions and tracking tools have been implemented for them so that the general public can get priority.

What changed for passengers?
Railways has clarified that if your profile is already updated and linked to Aadhaar, then your chances of getting a confirmed ticket are many times higher than in previous years. Passengers are advised to check their internet connection and profile status before the booking time.

These new rules of 2026 are an attempt to restore transparency in railway booking and rekindle people’s trust in the system. Through technological improvements and mandatory identity verification, Railways has directly attacked the illegal use of brokers and software.