Indian Railways cracks down on unauthorised automated bookings; boosts website access for genuine users

New Delhi [India], June 5 (ANI): In an effort to enhance transparency, security and user experience, the Indian Railways has undertaken a comprehensive digital overhaul of its ticketing infrastructure, an official statement from the Ministry of Railways said on Thursday.
Through the deployment of cutting-edge anti-BOT systems and integration with a leading Content Delivery Network (CDN) service provider, the Railways has significantly curbed unauthorised automated bookings by unscrupulous agents and improved the access of the website to genuine users, the statement read.
The Ministry said that the new system has effectively mitigated all bot traffic, which peaks during the first five minutes of Tatkal. Bot traffic accounts for up to 50 per cent of overall login attempts during this period. This enhancement ensures better accessibility for genuine users. This has resulted in 2.5 crore suspected user IDs being deactivated for booking tickets. A landmark achievement was recorded on May 22, 2025, with the highest-ever per-minute booking of 31,814 tickets, showcasing the robustness and scalability of the upgraded platform.
To further enhance fairness and efficiency, new user protocols have been introduced. Users not authenticated via Aadhaar can book Opening ARP, Tatkal or Premium Tatkal tickets only after 3 days of registration, while Aadhaar-verified users can book tickets without delay.
The statement added that these efforts have delivered measurable improvements. The average daily user logins increased from 69.08 lakh in FY 2023-24 to 82.57 lakh in FY 2024-25, registering a 19.53 per cent rise, while average daily ticket bookings grew by 11.85 per cent in the same period. Additionally, E-Ticketing now accounts for 86.38 per cent of total reserved ticket bookings.
Systemic upgrades include 87 per cent of static content being served via CDN for faster load times and reduced server load. Also, active detection and mitigation of bot traffic using sophisticated AI algorithms and proactive deactivation of suspicious user IDs and complaint lodging via the Cyber Crime Portal.
According to the Ministry, Railways is planning to make the Tatkal ticketing process more robust by making some of the rules more stringent, like only Aadhar-verified accounts will be allowed to book online Tatkal tickets, and Aadhar-based OTP authentication shall also be required for booking. Sources said that counter-based tatkal tickets may also be booked after Aadhar verification to control malpractices. (ANI)