Tatkal ticket mystery solved: IRCTC may have found the dirty tricks behind train ticket fraud, blocks 2.5 crore user IDs

In a large-scale crackdown on ticketing fraud, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has identified 2.9 lakh suspicious PNRs booked within five minutes of the opening of reservation windows. This action was part of a special drive conducted between January and May 2025 to detect irregularities in the ticketing system, a TOI report stated.

Crackdown on fake accounts and email domains

According to top railway officials, IRCTC has deactivated 2.5 crore suspected user IDs and placed another 20 lakh IDs under revalidation. A total of 134 complaints have been registered on the national cyber crime portal, and over 6,800 disposable email domains have been blocked.

Disposable email addresses, which are often used temporarily or for single-use communication, were found to be misused by fraudsters to bypass booking limits and secure tickets at scale. These tickets were later sold at higher prices to passengers.

Limited to select trains and routes

Sources said the issue of tickets selling out instantly is mostly confined to certain trains and routes. “So, the focus is on weeding out users who are beating the system. Passengers can't be blamed as there is a genuine shortage of confirmed tickets. So, the effort has been to increase capacity and to run more trains, particularly during peak travel seasons,” an official told TOI.

Security upgrades to block bots

Officials said IRCTC has introduced systemic changes to prevent misuse of the platform. These include the use of content delivery networks and anti-BOT technologies to differentiate between real users and automated scripts. These upgrades aim to make the ticketing process smoother and more secure for genuine travellers.

On May 22, 2025, at 10 am, IRCTC recorded its highest ever per-minute booking of 31,814 tickets. “Attempt versus booking ratio has increased from 43.1% to 62.2% between Oct 2024 and May 2025,” said an official.

Don't rely on platform promising confirmed ticket

Officials have warned users not to rely on travel platforms that claim to guarantee confirmed tickets. “None of the travel platforms can guarantee confirmed ticket bookings and hence people should not fall prey to them,” said an official.

Some business-to-consumer (B2C) sites offer premium services and advertise 3X refund offers in specific cases, but officials advise caution while using such services.