Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Railways
Government of India
Ministry of Railways
18-July-2015 20:53 IST
Ministry of Railways decides to
modify Tatkal ticket rules for the convenience of passengers
Under the proposed modifications, some existing anomalies are being
corrected for the benefit of the passengers
Under the modification, it is proposed to remove the condition of
providing photocopy of identity card or indicating its number at the time of
purchase of Tatkal ticket
The requirement of the passenger to carry one of the permitted
photo-identity cards during travel continues to prevent any possible misuse
The modified tatkal provisions to come to effect by 1st
September, 2015. The exact date of effect will be notified separately
Ministry of Railways has decided to modify some of the rules pertaining
to purchase of tatkal tickets. Under the modified rules, there will be no
need to furnish photocopy of proof of identity while booking Tatkal ticket from
computerised reservation counter or to indicate its number at the time of
booking of Tatkal ticket at the counter or through internet.
In addition, as per the proposed changes, in case of ticket booked under
Tatkal scheme, one of the passengers has to produce anyone of the
following proofs of identity in original during the journey,
failing which all the passengers booked on that ticket will be treated as
travelling without ticket and charged accordingly : -
(i)
Voter Photo Identity Card
issued by Election Commission of India.
(ii)
Passport
(iii)
PAN Card issued by Income Tax
Department
(iv) Driving Licence issued by RTO
(v)
Photocopy Identity Card having
serial number issued by Central/State Government
(vi) Student Identity Card with photograph
issued by recognized School/College for their Students
(vii) Nationalised Bank Passbook with
photograph
(viii) Credit
Cards issued by Banks with laminated photograph
(ix) Unique Identification Card “Aadhar”
(x)
Photo
identity cards having serial number issued by Public Sector Undertaking of
State/Central Government, District Administrations, Municipal bodies and
Panchayat Administrations.
These
modifications will come into effect by 1st September, 2015.
The exact date of effect will be notified separately.
Rationale For Changing Rules For Tatkal
tickets Booking :-
1.
As per extant/present instructions for undertaking journey on Tatkal
tickets, the passenger at the time of booking a ticket from PRS
Centre has to provide a photocopy of identity card which he/she will
carry during the journey. The number of this identity card is indicated on the
ticket as well as reservation chart and during the journey the passenger has to
carry the same original proof of identity failing which he/she is treated as
travelling without ticket and charged accordingly. Similarly, in case of passengers
booking ticket through internet, the number and type of identity
card to be carried by the passenger during the journey is indicated at the time
of booking of ticket and the passenger has to carry the same original proof of
identity during the journey failing which all the passengers are treated as
travelling without ticket and charged accordingly. This provision has been done away to facilitate passengers to
buy Tatkal tickets since it is possible that a person may be booking ticket for
his parents (aged) /children who are staying in a different city (hostel) and
may not have photocopy of their photo identity card. Now it would be
possible to book tickets in such situations. However, the
requirement of the passenger to carry one of the permitted photo Identity
Card in original to prove his identity at the time of travel continues to
ensure there is no misuse.
2. Presently the number
given in the identity card has to be entered while generating the Tatkal
ticket. This is increasing the transaction time. The transaction
time for individuals booking through PRS and internet is getting increased due
to requirement of entering the identity card number while the agents are able
to book faster using scripting software and thereby getting unfair advantage.
By doing away with entering the identity card number, the transaction time is
reduced. Further in case the identity number is wrongly typed by the
railway clerk and found to be not tallying with the original identity card
number, the TTE has no discretion but to treat the passenger as without
ticket. There have been reports of passengers having suffered due to this
problem. The proposed modification solves this problem.
3. Presently if
the passenger is carrying a valid photo-identity card (Aadhaar
Card/Passport/Driving Licence/PAN Card etc.) but is not the same as mentioned
in the ticket at the time of booking the passenger will be treated as without
ticket. Many complaints have been received in this regard where the
passengers to continue travel had to pay the fare of the ticket plus penalty
for not showing the same photo-identity card as mentioned at the time of
booking. In case the passenger misplaces the identity card mentioned in the
ticket but is carrying any of the other identity card in the prescribed list
the present system will treat him as without ticket. A large number of
uneducated, senior citizen, women and people from rural areas were getting
affected due to this rule. This was also highlighted by Hon'ble MPs in various
meetings of the Parliamentary Standing Committee. This issue will also get
resolved under the proposed changes.
4. Presently in
case of normal (non-Tatkal) ticket a passenger can travel by showing anyone
of the 10 prescribed proof of identity in original. For Tatkal it was
restricted to only the identity proof mentioned in the ticket at the time of
booking the ticket. This anomaly has now been corrected in the proposed changes
and the Tatkal Ticket holder can also travel by showing anyone of
the ten prescribed proof of identity.
5.
In a nutshell, even after the modified rules, there is no dilution on proving
identity at the time of travel by showing the original photo-identity card.
The proposed change is only to facilitate easy booking of Tatkal tickets
by correcting existing anomalies.
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