Indian Railways shakes up emergency quota, Tatkal ticket bookings
Indian Railways is shaking up how you book emergency quota (EQ) and Tatkal tickets.
Now, EQ requests have to be sent at least a day before your train leaves—so, no more last-minute scrambles.
Depending on your train's departure time, the cutoff is either noon for trains departing between midnight and 2pm or 4pm for those departing between 2:01pm and 11:59pm the following day.
For trips on Sundays or holidays, you'll need to plan ahead and submit requests on the last working day before you travel.
Aadhaar mandatory for Tatkal bookings
From July 1, 2025, you'll need to use Aadhaar authentication for all Tatkal tickets on IRCTC.
By mid-July, OTP-based Aadhaar checks will be required everywhere—even at counters and through agents.
Plus, agents can't book Tatkal tickets in the first half hour of sales (10-10:30am for AC; 11-11:30am for non-AC), so regular users get a fair shot.
Faster reservation system coming up
By December 2025, expect a much faster reservation system—five times more booking capacity and 10 times better inquiry handling.
The update will support multiple languages and make things easier for differently-abled travelers.
The Ministry's also looking at lowering cancelation charges to help out waitlisted passengers.