The most profitable e-commerce website in India, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Limited (IRCTC), has a new trick up its sleeve to prevent touts from booking too many tickets. Now you can’t book more than six tickets in a month.
Under the new rule, which will come into effect from February 15, 2016, a maximum of six tickets can be booked online by an individual user in a month using the IRCTC website. Currently, a user can book a maximum of 10 tickets online in a month.
The move comes ministry officials realised that about 90 percent of its users book only up to six tickets in a given month, the railway minister said in a release. It is suspected the others may have been booking more tickets in order to sell them illegally.
Recently, IRCTC had also introduced a compulsory 35 seconds wait to book tickets online through its website irctc.co.in to facilitate hassle-free booking by genuine ticket seekers.
Here are the revised rules for booking yourself a ticket on the IRCTC:
- Individuals are allowed only two tickets per user ID in a day from 8 am to 10 am.
- Individuals are allowed only two tickets per user-ID in a day for Tatkal booking from 10 am to 12 pm.
- A maximum of six tickets can be booked online in a month by an individual.
- Quick Book Option is disabled from 8 am to 12 pm.
- All types of ticketing agents (YTSK, RTSA, IRCTC agents etc) have been debarred from booking tickets during the first thirty minutes of opening of booking ie from 8 am to 8:30 am for general bookings, and from 10 am to 10:30 am and 11:00 am to 11:30 am for Tatkal booking in AC and non-AC classes respectively.
- Booking is not allowed through e-wallet and cash cards from 8 am to 12 pm.
- There is only one booking in one user login session except for return/onward journey between 08 am to 12 pm.
- The existing condition, wherein these booking are subject to a limit of booking two opening Tatkal tickets from 10 am to 12 pm in a day and two opening Advance Reservation Period (ARP) tickets from 8 am to 10 am in a day, will continue.
- (Feature image sourced from Reuters)