At present, the facility to book reserved tickets is available through computerised Passenger Reservation System (PRS) counters of Indian Railways and through internet. PRS counters generally function between 0800 hours and 2000 hours on weekdays and from 0800 hours to 1400 hours on Sundays. At some locations, working hours of these counters are also enhanced/reduced depending on the number of transactions handled. In addition, at certain major locations, reservation counters also operate to issue tickets against vacant accommodation available after preparation of first reservation charts or to cancel accommodation already booked as per provisions of extant Refund Rules.
At present, more than 70% of reserved tickets of Indian Railways are booked online through website of IRCTC where this facility is available throughout the day except for a short period of approximately 40 minutes between 2340 hours and 0020 hours during which user login is disabled. The facility to procure reserved tickets is also available through Yatri Ticket Suvidha Kendra (YTSK). YTSKs are located outside station premises thus sparing the general public from queuing up PRS counters of Indian Railways to source tickets. These arrangements are considered adequate.
Measures to streamline reservation system and to deter unscrupulous elements from misusing the reservation facility meant for genuine passengers is a continuous and an on-going process. Some of the important initiatives taken in this regard are as under:
Instructions have been issued to ensure that tickets are not booked on abbreviated names and full name of the passenger and the surname wherever applicable are captured at the time of booking reserved tickets.
Carrying of prescribed identity proof has been made compulsory for one of the passengers while undertaking journey in reserved class.
Regular checks are conducted in mass contact areas such as Passenger Reservation System (PRS) centres, booking offices, platforms, trains etc. to prevent unauthorized ticketing activities. Such checks are also intensified during peak period like festivals, holidays, etc.
Checks conducted at reservation offices are supplemented by checks on the trains to detect the cases of transferred reserved tickets i.e. persons found travelling fraudulently against accommodation actually reserved in the name of another passenger.
Surveillance at reservation offices is stepped up by installing Close Circuit Television at important PRS locations to keep watch on any possible misuse of reservation system.
In case of online booking of tickets, checks have been applied on minimum time required to enter the passenger details and CAPTCHA and no ticket can be booked before 35 seconds. User IDs are checked on daily basis and those IDs found using malpractices like fast booking of tickets are deactivated.
A limit of booking 6 Railway tickets by an individual user in a month in case of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) portal has been fixed. This limit has been revised to 12 Railway tickets in a month for those individual users who have linked their IRCTC user ID with their respective Aadhaar number and ensured that at least one of the passengers in the passenger list is verifiable through Aadhaar.
The authorized agents of IRCTC have been restricted from booking tickets during first fifteen minutes of opening of Advance Reservation Period (ARP) booking and Tatkal booking.
General public are also educated through Public Address System and media, not to buy tickets from unscrupulous elements and consequences of buying tickets from these sources.
In order to cater to additional demand during peak rush period, special trains are run and carrying capacity of existing trains is augmented, keeping in view the pattern of traffic, operational feasibility and availability of resources.
Computerised Passenger Reservation System (PRS) has also been streamlined by making a provision for automatic preparation of reservation charts at least four hours before the scheduled departure of train and to allow booking of vacant accommodation thereafter till preparation of second reservation charts through internet as well as any computerised PRS counter.