New rules under Tatkal scheme to roll out from today

New Delhi, Nov 21: In an effort to check fraudsters and to make emergency travel glitch free, the Indian Railways is all set to roll the

from Monday (Nov 21). The sweeping changes under the new plan include the reduction in the advance reservation period for Tatkal tickets from 48 hours to 24 hours. The refunding of confirmed tickets will also be stopped from Monday.

A release from the Indian Railways state that the other steps to thwart touts include the non-issuance of duplicate takal tickets, giving Tatkal ticket only to people carrying identity proof, and restricting the booking of tickets between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. The new system will only allow booking for 4 passengers on a Tatkal ticket.

The new rules state that tatkal tickets will only be issued upon production of the eight prescribed proofs of identity, said officials. The identity proofs will ultimately be linked with Aadhaar, the unique identification number being provided to the citizens by the government.

Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi was quoted as saying to reporters, "Tatkal is a facility for emergency travel...It is meant for unplanned travel. But we have reports touts are misusing it by blocking berths."

OneIndia News