IRCTC tweaks Tatkal ticket booking rules ahead of summer vacations, avail full refund on cancellations

The Indian Railways on Thursday tweaked the rules and regulations of the Tatkal ticket booking reservations and added some new rules to the list.

Tatkal allows the passengers to book tickets at the last minute in cases of emergency. One can book Tatkal tickets on first come first served basis through computerised Passenger Reservation System.

With a high demand in the summer vacation season, the seats get booked within a short span of time, especially those on the frequent routes. Meanwhile, technical glitches on the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation’s (IRCTC)official website are very common.

To avoid these problems, the Indian Railways has introduced some new rules along with tweaking the previous rules in ticket booking through Tatkal.

The new rules, not official on the IRCTC website, are as follows:

• Now, the Tatkal bookings have to be done a day before the travelling date. Booking of an AC coach ticket on Tatkal can be done from 10 AM, while booking a Sleeper Class ticket can be started from 11 AM.

• Full refund can be now availed by the passenger if the train’s route has been diverted and if the passenger is not willing to travel on the new route.

• If the passenger travels on the new diverted route, but his station/stop does not fall on the route, even then the passenger can ask for a full refund.

• Also, if the train fails to leave within three hours of its scheduled time, the passenger has full rights to ask for a refund of hi Tatkal money.

• Passenger will be paid back the difference if he/she agrees to travel in the lower class.

Also Read: Aadhaar must for opening bank accounts, applying for tatkal passports, says UIDAI

Apart from these changes in the rulebook of the Tatkal booking, the Railway Minister Piyush Goyal had introduced some new features too. The confirmed tickets will not be refunded if cancelled, and no modification or allocation of seats will be allowed, and some other changes like this have been made.

Besides this, authorised travel agents have been excluded from booking the Tatkal tickets for the first 30 minutes as soon as the reservation opens. A new login and booking page has been introduced for ticket booking. This is to check fraudulent bookings through automations software and captcha in registration.

However, the payment gateway is not included in the page.