IRCTC rules
Indian Railways has made Aadhaar mandatory for booking train tickets between 8 am to 10 am on the IRCTC website and mobile app. Its purpose is to prevent fraud and to deliver tickets to the right people during peak hours.
These two hours in the morning are the time when the demand for seats in popular trains increases a lot. Many times people use more than one account or make mistakes in ticket booking through automated software. To stop this, IRCTC has made this time slot only for Aadhaar-verified users. Those who have not linked their Aadhaar can book tickets at any time except 8 to 10 am. This rule is applicable from 28th October.
Even before this, Railways had made Aadhaar mandatory for Tatkal ticket booking. Aadhaar is mandatory for Tatkal tickets from July 1, then from July 15, 2025, OTP-based Aadhaar verification has been added for ticket booking across online, agent or PRS counters.
How to do Aadhaar verification
Those who have not yet verified Aadhaar can do it in a few minutes.
- First of all go to http://www.irctc.co.in and log in.
- Go to My Profile and click on the User Verification option.
- Enter Aadhaar number or Virtual ID, check your details and click on Verify Details.
- An OTP will come on the mobile number linked to your Aadhaar, enter it.
- Once the verification is complete, you can book tickets anytime including 8 am to 10 am.
be careful
This new rule applies only to online ticket booking. There has been no change in the method of taking tickets at the PRS counter. Now people booking tickets in the morning will have to complete Aadhaar verification first, so that failed transactions can be avoided during ticket booking. This change is part of Railways’ efforts to make ticket booking more secure, transparent and easy for genuine passengers.