11 December,2025 04:51 PM IST | New Delhi | mid-day online correspondent
Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told the Lok Sabha that the new system was helping curb misuse of ticket bookings. File Pic/PTI
Aadhaar-based OTP verification for online Tatkal ticket booking is now active in 322 trains, helping curb misuse and improve fairness in the system, the Parliament was informed on Thursday, reported the IANS.
According to the government, the introduction of the verification method has increased the availability window for confirmed Tatkal tickets by around 65 per cent in these trains.
Aadhaar OTP verification for Tatkal bookings at reservation counters is also being implemented in phases and is currently operational in 211 trains as of 4 December. Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told the Lok Sabha in a written reply that, because of this measure, confirmed Tatkal ticket availability time has risen in nearly 95 per cent of the 96 most popular trains, according to the IANS.
The minister further said that strict revalidation and verification of user accounts had been carried out. Since January 2025, approximately 3.02 crore suspicious user IDs have been deactivated. Anti-bot solutions such as AKAMAI have been deployed to block non-genuine users and ensure smooth booking for legitimate passengers, the news agency reported.
Complaints regarding suspiciously booked PNRs were being submitted to the National Cyber Crime Portal, he added.
Ashwini Vaishnaw also stated that the use of several protective layers, including network firewalls, intrusion prevention systems, application delivery controllers and web application firewalls, to safeguard the ticketing system from cyber threats, as per the IANS.
The reservation system is hosted in a dedicated, access-controlled data centre equipped with CCTV surveillance and end-to-end encryption. The centre holds certification under the ISO 27001 Information Security Management System (ISMS) standards, he said.
To further reinforce cyber security, RailTel Corporation of India Ltd. provides advanced threat intelligence services, including take-down services, threat monitoring, deep and dark web surveillance, and digital risk protection. These services offer early warnings on emerging cyber threats and enable quicker incident response.
The reservation system also undergoes regular security audits by CERT-In-empanelled Information Security Audit Agencies. Additionally, internet traffic related to the ticketing platform is continuously monitored by CERT-In and the National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIIPC) to detect and prevent potential cyberattacks, the IANS reported.
(with IANS inputs)
