Railways to block e-ticket agents for tatkal

New Delhi, Jul 7: E-ticket agents of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) will be barred from getting access to tatkal bookings from 8 am to 9 am.

Railway took this decision after receiving complaints from people against the web-based ticket agents.

Passengers have been long complaining of the IRCTC website crashing as soon as the booking commences in the morning.

There are complaints that agents corner tickets during the morning period and tatkal quota getting exhausted within minutes, said a Railway official.

"Taking such complaints into account, Railways have decided not to give the web-based agents and web services agents of the IRCTC access to tatkal booking from 8 am to 9 am," he said, adding the decision will be implemented shortly.

The move will, however, be temporary in nature.

"We want to give individuals a chance to book their ticket without any problem and if passenger complaints are addressed through this move we would implement the decision permanently," said the Railways official.

Indian Railways sees over 9.5 lakh booking across the country each day, 30 per cent of which is done through the IRCTC portal. There are approximately about eight lakh agents under IRCTC.

"With this move, we want to curb the menace of touting as passengers have often complained of," said the official.

OneIndia News