Missed your ideal booking window and now you are looking for tatkal tickets on IRCTC? Well, from July 1 2025, you need to do one more thing to reserve your tatkal seats on India’s trains—link it to Aadhaar.

What is reasoned to be a major push towards more transparent access towards emergency train travel, the Ministry of Railways recently announced major changes to the tatkal ticket reservations. These changes are expected to come into effect from the first of July this year.

In a June 10 directive to all zones, the Indian Railways announced an additional step for tatkal booking. Under these new changes, any user from July 1 2025 needs to register their Aadhaar number with their IRCTC account in order to reserve tatkal tickets online.

This is to cut down on unauthorised ‘bots’ and agents misusing the tatkal system.

But, there is more. From July 15 2025, tatkal tickets will also involve an OTP verification—further tightening the booking process.

So, now, to book a tatkal ticket from July, you need an active IRCTC account and your Aadhaar number (or virtual ID) linked to it.

So, how does one link their Aadhaar to an IRCTC account?

Head to the IRCTC account and log in. Then, go to ‘My Account’. There, a new ‘Authenticate User’ would be available. Click on it, enter your Aadhaar number (or Virtual ID), and then click ‘Verify Details’.

This starts a basic OTP verification. Once you enter the OTP received on your registered mobile number and proceed, it will display that your authentication was successful.

IRCTC also give you the capability to add Aadhaar-verified passengers to your list, making the booking faster.

For this, head to the ‘My Profile’ page and then ‘Master List’. Enter the passenger’s name, DOB, and gender as in the Aadhaar card. Then select ‘Aadhaar Card’ as ID proof, fill in the number, and click ‘Submit’.

Against each passenger, it will display ‘Pending’. Click on the ‘check pending Aadhaar verification’ option, and it will check the information against the users. From July 15, OTPs will also be required for each of these passengers.

For the IRCTC app on iOS and Android, the steps are pretty much the same. However, for most users, a popup will urge them and take them to the relevant page to link their Aadhaar as they log in.

The railway ministry reasoned that these changes would “ensure fair and transparent access to tatkal tickets and to safeguard the interests of genuine passengers”.

“To prevent bulk bookings during the critical opening period, authorised ticketing agents of Indian Railways will not be permitted to book opening-day tatkal tickets during the first 30 minutes of the booking window. For AC classes, this restriction applies from 10.00am to 10.30am, and for non-AC classes, from 11.00am to 11.30 am,” the ministry stated.