Lok Sabha Question No. 2844 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-08-03
Subject: Tatkal Scheme
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Manjulata Mandal, C.N. Annadurai, Ganesan Selvam, Gajanan Chandrakant Kirtikar, Dhanush M Kumar, Gautham Sigamani Pon, Gopal Chinayya Shetty

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2844 TO BE ANSWERED ON 03.08.2022

TATKAL SCHEME

2844.       SHRIMATI MANJULATA MANDAL:

SHRI C.N. ANNADURAI:

SHRI SELVAM G.:

SHRI GAJANAN KIRTIKAR:

SHRI DHANUSH M. KUMAR:

DR. PON GAUTHAM SIGAMANI:

SHRI GOPAL CHINNAYA SHETTY:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) the achievements made by Tatkal Scheme since its inception;
- (b)  whether  Tatkal  scheme  has  achieved  the  objective  for  which  it  was launched and if so, the details thereof and if not, the corrective steps taken in this regard;
- (c) whether the Government proposes to decrease the number of seats in all trains under Tatkal scheme and if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;
- (d) the details of the inbuilt features of Tatkal scheme to protect its misuse by unscrupulous elements;
- (e)  whether cases of misuse of Tatkal scheme by unscrupulous elements have sharply risen despite the said inbuilt features in it and if so, whether a gang  has  been  busted  for  allegedly  booking  fifty  percent  Tatkal  tickets online  through  some  critical  software  within  few  seconds  of  the  Tatkal ticket window opening;
- (f)  if  so,  the  details  of  the  said  gang  and  the  action  taken  against  these criminals;
- (g)  the  place-wise  number  of  cases  of  Tatkal  ticket  scam  that  surfaced during the last three years and till date;
- (h) the action taken in this regard; and
- (i) the corrective steps taken by the Government to put a check on tatkal ticket scam to stop the re-currence of such incidents in future?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, COMMUNICATIONS AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

(SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW)

- (a) to (i): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House .

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STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  to  (i)  OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2844 BY SHRIMATI MANJULATA MANDAL, SHRI C.N. ANNADURAI, SHRI SELVAM G., SHRI GAJANAN KIRTIKAR, SHRI DHANUSH M. KUMAR, DR. PON GAUTHAM SIGAMANI AND  SHRI  GOPAL  CHINNAYA  SHETTY  TO  BE  ANSWERED  IN  LOK SABHA ON 03.08.2022 REGARDING TATKAL SCHEME.

- (a) & (b)  :  With  a  view  to  meet  the  demand  of  those  passengers who  have  to  plan  journey  at  short  notice,  Tatkal  scheme  was introduced  in  1997.    This  scheme  has  been  well  taken  by  general public as during the period from financial year 2012-13 to 2022-23 (up to  June  2022),  approximately  80.30  crore  passengers  have  availed reservation under this scheme.

(c) : The powers for earmarking of Tatkal accommodation has been delegated  to  Zonal  Railways  concerned  who  take  this  decision keeping in view the availability of accommodation, demand pattern as  well  as  utilisation.  The  accommodation  so  earmarked  can, however, not exceed 30% of available accommodation.

- (d)  :  In  order  to  prevent  misuse  of  the  Tatkal  scheme  following features are inbuilt in the scheme:-
- i. One of the passengers booked on the ticket has to carry one of the prescribed proof of identity(in original) failing which all the passengers are treated as travelling without ticket and charged accordingly.
- ii. The timings of opening of booking under Tatkal scheme on the opening day of reservation have been staggered to 1000 hours &  1100  hours  on  the  previous  day  of  journey  from  train originating station for AC and non-AC classes respectively.
- iii. The facility of change of name is not permitted on the booking made under Tatkal Scheme.
- iv. No  duplicate Tatkal tickets are issued. In exceptional circumstances,  it  is  issued  on  payment  of  full  fare  including Tatkal Charges.
- v. Authorised ticketing agents of Indian Railways are restricted from  booking  Tatkal  tickets  between  1000  hours  and  1015 hours for tickets in AC classes and between 1100 hours and 1115 hours for non-AC classes.
- vi. Only 4 passengers per PNR at a time are allowed to be booked in case of tatkal tickets.
- vii. Refund of payment is not allowed on cancellation of confirmed Tatkal tickets, except under exigencies like cancellation/partial cancellation/short termination/diversion of train services.
- viii. Web  agents  are  allowed  to  book  only  one  Tatkal  ticket  per train per day on internet.
- Detailed analysis of logs and activities while booking reserved tickets  through  the  website  of  Indian  Railway  Catering  and Tourism Corporation(IRCTC) is done and suspected users are
- ix. blocked.
- x. Check has been applied for minimum time required for booking tickets through internet.
- xi. In addition, queue  management  and  scrutiny  of booking requisitions is done at ticket reservation counters.
- (e)  to  (i)  :  Unauthorised  carrying  on  of  business  of  procuring  and supplying of railway tickets is a punishable offence and the persons found involved in such illegal activities are punished as per provisions  laid  down  under  section  143  of  the  Railways  Act,  1989. Regular  drives  are  conducted  by  Railway  Protection  Force  (RPF) against  touts  over  Indian  Railway  and  action  is  taken  against persons found involved as per extant legal provisions. In course of action against touts, some gangs involved in development, sale and use of illegal softwares were busted. These softwares were used for

cornering  e-Tickets  that  bypassed  Captcha  &  OTP  verification  and thereby  facilitated  the  requisitions  made  to  IRCTC  portal  through these softwares, jump the queue in booking of e-tickets.  Tickets so procured were sold by touts at premium.  Action under relevant legal provisions were taken by RPF in such cases. The details of cases registered by RPF against touts (u/s 143 of  the  Railways  Act)  alongwith  persons  arrested  are  appended. During  action  against  touts,  more  than  140  illegal  softwares  were disrupted with arrest of 583 persons involved in operation of these softwares since 2019 till 2022(June). In  order  to  prevent  activities  of  unscrupulous  elements/touts using illegal softwares, regular cyber patrolling, detailed analysis of logs  and  activities  during  Tatkal  and  Advance  Reservation  Period (ARP)  at  the  backend,  proactive  blocking  of  suspected  users  at network level based on analysis by IRCTC anti-fraud team and RPF and  consistent  and  proactive  measures  including  engaging  cyber security experts from the industry to prevent touting by identifying unscrupulous elements is done.

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APPENDIX  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (e)  to  (i)  OF  UNSTARRED QUESTION  NO. 2844 BY SHRIMATI MANJULATA  MANDAL,  SHRI  C.N. ANNADURAI, SHRI SELVAM G., SHRI GAJANAN KIRTIKAR, SHRI DHANUSH M. KUMAR, DR. PON GAUTHAM SIGAMANI AND SHRI GOPAL CHINNAYA SHETTY TO  BE  ANSWERED  IN  LOK  SABHA  ON  03.08.2022  REGARDING  TATKAL SCHEME.

| No. of cases registered for touting along with persons arrested   | No. of cases registered for touting along with persons arrested   | No. of cases registered for touting along with persons arrested   | No. of cases registered for touting along with persons arrested   |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Zone                                                              | Year                                                              | No. of cases registered                                           | No. of persons arrested                                           |
| CR                                                                | 2019                                                              | 475                                                               | 546                                                               |
| CR                                                                | 2020                                                              | 466                                                               | 522                                                               |
| CR                                                                | 2021                                                              | 353                                                               | 436                                                               |
| CR                                                                | 2022 (upto June)                                                  | 182                                                               | 213                                                               |
| ER                                                                | 2019                                                              | 338                                                               | 383                                                               |
| ER                                                                | 2020                                                              | 248                                                               | 295                                                               |
| ER                                                                | 2021                                                              | 208                                                               | 252                                                               |
| ECR                                                               | 2022 (upto June)                                                  | 215                                                               | 236                                                               |
|                                                                   | 2019                                                              | 138                                                               | 149                                                               |
|                                                                   | 2020                                                              | 316                                                               | 338                                                               |
|                                                                   | 2021                                                              | 327                                                               | 362                                                               |
|                                                                   | 2022 (upto June)                                                  | 268                                                               | 289                                                               |
| ECoR                                                              | 2019                                                              | 154                                                               | 169                                                               |
| ECoR                                                              | 2020                                                              | 100                                                               | 110                                                               |
| ECoR                                                              | 2021                                                              | 100                                                               | 106                                                               |
|                                                                   | 2022 (upto June)                                                  | 93                                                                | 97 385                                                            |
| NR                                                                | 2019                                                              | 458                                                               |                                                                   |
| NR                                                                | 2020                                                              | 801                                                               | 725                                                               |
| NR                                                                | 2021                                                              | 542                                                               | 510                                                               |
|                                                                   | 2022 (upto June)                                                  | 403                                                               | 391                                                               |
| NCR                                                               | 2019                                                              | 213                                                               | 224                                                               |
| NCR                                                               | 2020                                                              | 214                                                               | 241                                                               |
| NCR                                                               | 2021                                                              | 119                                                               | 124                                                               |
|                                                                   | 2022 (upto June)                                                  | 80                                                                | 83                                                                |
| NER                                                               | 2019                                                              | 282                                                               | 352                                                               |
| NER                                                               | 2020                                                              | 261                                                               | 328                                                               |
| NER                                                               | 2021                                                              | 212                                                               | 273                                                               |
|                                                                   | 2022 (upto June)                                                  | 90                                                                | 97                                                                |
| NFR                                                               | 2019                                                              | 68                                                                | 78                                                                |
| NFR                                                               | 2020                                                              | 96                                                                | 103                                                               |
| NFR                                                               | 2021                                                              | 112                                                               | 124                                                               |
| NFR                                                               | 2022 (upto June)                                                  | 131                                                               | 136                                                               |

| 2019             |   163 |   200 |
|------------------|-------|-------|
| 2020             |   123 |   158 |
| 2021             |   117 |   140 |
| 2022 (upto June) |    99 |   108 |
| 2019             |   317 |   337 |
| 2020             |   321 |   341 |
| 2021             |   365 |   376 |
| 2022 (upto June) |   272 |   277 |
| 2019             |   241 |   251 |
| 2020             |   277 |   281 |
| 2021             |   349 |   359 |
| 2022 (upto June) |   271 |   273 |
| 2019             |   292 |   316 |
| 2020             |   116 |   128 |
| 2021             |   105 |   116 |
| 2022 (upto June) |    62 |    70 |
| 2019             |   244 |   280 |
| 2020             |   181 |   204 |
| 2021             |   257 |   282 |
| 2022 (upto June) |   121 |   128 |
| 2019             |   101 |   110 |
| 2020             |   176 |   198 |
| 2021             |   179 |   190 |
| 2022 (upto June) |   184 |   186 |
| 2019             |   584 |   737 |
| 2020             |   774 |   926 |
| 2021             |   680 |   837 |
| 2022 (upto June) |   377 |   426 |
| 2019             |   190 |   207 |
| 2020             |   197 |   224 |
| 2021             |   165 |   176 |
| 2022 (upto June) |    98 |   107 |

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