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New Delhi, Sep 15 (IANS) In a major move to curb misuse of its ticketing system and ensure benefits for genuine passengers, Indian Railways on Monday said that it has made Aadhaar authentication mandatory for booking general reserved tickets online during the first 15 minutes after the opening of reservations.

The new rule will come into effect from October 1, the Ministry of Railways said.

According to the ministry, only Aadhaar-authenticated users on the IRCTC website or app will be able to book tickets in this crucial 15-minute window.

Officials said this step is aimed at stopping unscrupulous elements from cornering tickets at the time of opening and giving priority to common end users.

The ministry clarified that there will be no change in the timings of booking tickets at computerised Passenger Reservation System (PRS) counters.

Similarly, the 10-minute restriction already in place for authorised agents to book opening day reserved tickets will continue without change.

This move comes as part of a series of reforms Indian Railways has been undertaking in its reservation system.

Earlier, in June, the Railways had announced that reservation charts will now be prepared 8 hours before the train’s departure instead of 4 hours, to give passengers with waitlisted tickets more clarity and time to plan.

The Railways is also in the process of upgrading its Passenger Reservation System (PRS), being developed by the Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS).

Once operational, the new PRS will be capable of handling ten times the current load, processing over 1.5 lakh tickets per minute and more than 40 lakh enquiries per minute.

With Aadhaar-based authentication for online bookings and early chart preparation, the Railways aims to make the ticketing experience more transparent, passenger-friendly, and efficient.

--IANS

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