The Indian Railways has reported a significant jump in confirmed tatkal ticket availability after introducing Aadhaar-based OTP verification for online tatkal bookings. Presenting the update in Parliament, Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the new system—rolled out in phases—has already been implemented in 322 trains, leading to a 65% rise in confirmed tatkal booking availability for these services.
To curb fraud, reduce bulk misuse and improve fairness for genuine passengers, Indian Railways has also expanded Aadhaar OTP verification to reservation counters. This feature is now active in 211 trains, and in the case of 96 major routes, confirmed tatkal availability has improved by nearly 95%, the minister informed.
Vaishnaw said these reforms are part of a wider upgrade to the Railways’ reservation system, calling it a secure, robust platform equipped with advanced cyber protection. Multiple digital shields—including network firewalls, intrusion prevention tools, web application firewalls, and application control systems—have been added to strengthen ticketing security.
The minister highlighted that the reservation system operates from a highly protected, access-controlled Data Centre with CCTV monitoring and end-to-end encryption. The facility is certified under ISO 27001 (Information Security Management System) standards.
To further ensure safety, regular audits are conducted by CERT-In–approved cybersecurity agencies. In addition, CERT-In and the National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIIPC) continuously monitor internet traffic linked to the ticketing platform to detect suspicious activity or cyber-attacks.
