Unauthorised Booking of Tatkal Tickets

What was asked, and of whom?

The question asked about unauthorized Tatkal ticket bookings and the measures taken by the Railways Ministry to prevent automated booking bots and ensure fair ticketing. The Railways Ministry was asked to provide details on the effectiveness of the system, the number of unauthorized agents apprehended, and the structural, technical, and cybersecurity measures implemented.

Who asked / answered

Shri Shyamkumar Daulat Barve (MP who asked), Ministry of Railways (ministry that answered)

What the government said

• Aadhaar authentication for Tatkal ticket booking
• Aadhaar-based OTP verification for online Tatkal booking
• Application layer security controls
• Content Delivery Network (CDN) to offload static content
• Anti-bot solutions deployed
• Network and infrastructure layer security controls
• Physical security controls (ISO 27001 certified data centre)
• Security audit and monitoring (CERT-In TSAP)
• 3.04 crore suspicious user IDs deactivated
• 6.22 crore user IDs under revalidation
• 530 complaints lodged on National Cyber Crime Portal
• 13,343 suspicious email domains blocked
• 22,676 touts arrested by RPF
• 65.95% of requests in June 2026 were bots

Points worth noting

• The answer provides specific figures on bot requests (e.g., 65.95% of requests in June 2026 were bots)
• The answer states that 22,676 touts were arrested during the last five years (2021-2025) and up to June 2026
• The answer does not provide the number of unauthorized agents apprehended in the current year (2026) as requested in part (b) of the question
• The answer states that 530 complaints were lodged on the National Cyber Crime Portal for suspicious bookings in 2025-26 & 2026-27 (till 30.06.2026)