Ministry of Railways decides to modify Tatkal ticket rules for the convenience of passengers
Government of India
Ministry of Railways18-July-2015 20:53 IST
Ministry of Railways decides to modify Tatkal ticket rules for the convenience of passengers
Under the proposed modifications, some existing anomalies are being corrected for the benefit of the passengers
Under the modification, it is proposed to remove the condition of
providing photocopy of identity card or indicating its number at the
time of purchase of Tatkal ticket
The requirement of the passenger to carry one of the permitted
photo-identity cards during travel continues to prevent any possible
misuse
The modified tatkal provisions to come to effect by 1st September, 2015. The exact date of effect will be notified separately
Ministry of Railways has decided to modify some of the
rules pertaining to purchase of tatkal tickets. Under the modified
rules, there will be no need to furnish photocopy of proof of identity
while booking Tatkal ticket from computerised reservation counter or to
indicate its number at the time of booking of Tatkal ticket at the
counter or through internet.
In addition, as per the proposed changes, in case of ticket
booked under Tatkal scheme, one of the passengers has to produce anyone
of the following proofs of identity in original during the journey,
failing which all the passengers booked on that ticket will be treated
as travelling without ticket and charged accordingly : -
(i) Voter Photo Identity Card issued by Election Commission of India.
(ii) Passport
(iii) PAN Card issued by Income Tax Department
(iv) Driving Licence issued by RTO
(v) Photocopy Identity Card having serial number issued by Central/State Government
(vi) Student Identity Card with photograph issued by recognized School/College for their Students
(vii) Nationalised Bank Passbook with photograph
(viii) Credit Cards issued by Banks with laminated photograph
(ix) Unique Identification Card “Aadhar”
(x) Photo identity cards having serial number issued by
Public Sector Undertaking of State/Central Government, District
Administrations, Municipal bodies and Panchayat Administrations.
These modifications will come into effect by 1st September,
2015. The exact date of effect will be notified separately.
Rationale For Changing Rules For Tatkal tickets Booking :-
1. As per extant/present instructions for undertaking journey on
Tatkal tickets, the passenger at the time of booking a ticket from PRS
Centre has to provide a photocopy of identity card which he/she will
carry during the journey. The number of this identity card is indicated
on the ticket as well as reservation chart and during the journey the
passenger has to carry the same original proof of identity failing which
he/she is treated as travelling without ticket and charged accordingly.
Similarly, in case of passengers booking ticket through internet, the
number and type of identity card to be carried by the passenger during
the journey is indicated at the time of booking of ticket and the
passenger has to carry the same original proof of identity during the
journey failing which all the passengers are treated as travelling
without ticket and charged accordingly. This provision has been done
away to facilitate passengers to buy Tatkal tickets since it is possible
that a person may be booking ticket for his parents (aged) /children
who are staying in a different city (hostel) and may not have photocopy
of their photo identity card. Now it would be possible to book tickets
in such situations. However, the requirement of the passenger to carry
one of the permitted photo Identity Card in original to prove his
identity at the time of travel continues to ensure there is no misuse.
2. Presently the number given in the identity card has to be entered
while generating the Tatkal ticket. This is increasing the transaction
time. The transaction time for individuals booking through PRS and
internet is getting increased due to requirement of entering the
identity card number while the agents are able to book faster using
scripting software and thereby getting unfair advantage. By doing away
with entering the identity card number, the transaction time is reduced.
Further in case the identity number is wrongly typed by the railway
clerk and found to be not tallying with the original identity card
number, the TTE has no discretion but to treat the passenger as without
ticket. There have been reports of passengers having suffered due to
this problem. The proposed modification solves this problem.
3. Presently if the passenger is carrying a valid photo-identity card
(Aadhaar Card/Passport/Driving Licence/PAN Card etc.) but is not the
same as mentioned in the ticket at the time of booking the passenger
will be treated as without ticket. Many complaints have been received
in this regard where the passengers to continue travel had to pay the
fare of the ticket plus penalty for not showing the same photo-identity
card as mentioned at the time of booking. In case the passenger
misplaces the identity card mentioned in the ticket but is carrying any
of the other identity card in the prescribed list the present system
will treat him as without ticket. A large number of uneducated, senior
citizen, women and people from rural areas were getting affected due to
this rule. This was also highlighted by Hon'ble MPs in various meetings
of the Parliamentary Standing Committee. This issue will also get
resolved under the proposed changes.
4. Presently in case of normal (non-Tatkal) ticket a passenger can
travel by showing anyone of the 10 prescribed proof of identity in
original. For Tatkal it was restricted to only the identity proof
mentioned in the ticket at the time of booking the ticket. This anomaly
has now been corrected in the proposed changes and the Tatkal Ticket
holder can also travel by showing anyone of the ten prescribed proof of
identity.
5. In a nutshell, even after the modified rules, there is no
dilution on proving identity at the time of travel by showing the
original photo-identity card. The proposed change is only to facilitate
easy booking of Tatkal tickets by correcting existing anomalies.