Indian Railways Tightens Security, Deletes 3 Crore Fake IRCTC IDs

Indian Railways has now beefed up the cybersecurity a considerable bit, providing greater security to the passengers and getting rid of frauds in the ticketing system (especially part of the high-demand Tatkal bookings). Accordingly, the Railway has started deactivating the IRCTC accounts that are deemed apprehensible, this time working with an additional layer of security with Aadhaar-based verification.

Getting a briefing from Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on the subject on the floor of Lok Sabha, 3.02 crore incriminated IRCTC user IDs have been deactivated since January. So far, success with AKAMAI's support to a good extent has checked faking ticket sales using automated techniques or bots.

What About Tatkal Ticket Changes?

For the betterment of Tatkal, the rail administration has implemented several factors to provide equitable access to Tatkal booking for real passengers.

Aadhaar-Based Mobile Authentication

• The Aadhaar-based Mobile Verification System has been installed across 322 trains, which ensures that it is physically you who is booking the ticket.
• This led to a significant 65% increase in Tatkal ticket availability time, thus giving passengers not less.

Verified OTP at Offline Counters

• With effect from 4th December, OTP verification for the purpose of Tatkal tickets at counters has been introduced.
• In conjunction with 211 trains, this move would ensure a great increase in the availability of tickets, up to 95% in 96 high-demand trains.

Stronger Cybersecurity = Higher Success Rate

In the process, the following have most been diminished:

• Agents' exploitation
• Fake booking networks
• Bulk booking supplied by illegal agents
• Doubtful activities with regards to the IRCTC ID

The Ministry has stated that they are actively tracking and taking stern action against all the complaints being noted on the National Cybercrime Portal.

What This Means for Passengers

Now that the verification for Tatkal actually is undeniably made quite strict and cyber secure:

• Booking will act faster.
• It will be more transparent.
• It will be accessible to the average traveler.

It is on this side of years that the anti-scalping measures of the Railways have shown some very palpable results and have thereby benefitted millions of passengers in India every day.