Online ticket booking: By restricting online bookings to Aadhaar-authenticated users, the Indian Railways said it will reduce bulk bookings for resale at inflated prices and ensure a smoother, more transparent booking experience.
Attention train passengers. The Indian Railways recently announced a major change in the way passengers book reserved tickets online. As part of the new guidelines from October 1, 2025, passengers booking general reserved tickets during the first 15 minutes of the opening window on the IRCTC website or mobile app will have to use Aadhaar authentication. The decision has been taken to prevent misuse of the reservation system and to ensure fair access to genuine travellers.
The new guidelines for online booking of tickets with Aadhaar authentication has been done by the Indian Railways to ensure transparency and genuine access for passengers.
Starting from October 1, all passengers using the IRCTC website or mobile application will need to log in with Aadhaar authentication to book reserved tickets immediately when the booking window opens. However, without Aadhaar verification, ticket bookings will not be possible in this 15-minute slot.
This guideline was already in place for Tatkal bookings, and now it will be extended to general reservations as well.
By restricting online bookings to Aadhaar-authenticated users, the Indian Railways said it will reduce bulk bookings for resale at inflated prices and ensure a smoother, more transparent booking experience.
Check how the new guideline works
According to the Indian Railways guidelines, only passengers with an Aadhaar-linked IRCTC account will be able to book general reserved tickets online during the first 15 minutes after the reservation window opens. After this 15 minutes slot, the regular booking process will resume for all registered users.
How to link Aadhaar with IRCTC account
- First you need to log into your IRCTC account.
- On the next page, yopu need to go to the ‘My Profile’ section.
- On this page, you will have to select ‘Aadhaar Authentication.’
- Then, you will need to enter your 12-digit Aadhaar number.
- After this, you will have to complete the verification process using the OTP sent to your registered mobile number.
- You need to ensure IRCTC account information matches your Aadhaar details to avoid verification issues.
