Western Railway introduces OTP-based tatkal booking process

The Western Railway (WR) announced that they are making an important change to the Tatkal booking system for trains to make ticketing more transparent and passenger-friendly. The WR has introduced a new OTP-based system for Tatkal ticket bookings which came into effect from today, December 1, 2025.

This latest move by the Western Railway comes to curb the touts and fake reservations. The Tatkal tickets for the Mumbai Central-Ahmedabad Shatabdi Express will be issued only after passengers complete OTP (One Time Password) authentication as per the official statement.

As per this latest system, the system will send the OTP to the mobile number given by the passenger at the time of booking, said Western Railway’s Chief Public Relations Officer, Vineet Abhishek.

They will issue the ticket only after the OTP is successfully verified, the official added.

This latest system will be applicable to Tatkal bookings made through, Computerised PRS counters, Authorised agents, IRCTC website as well as IRCTC mobile app.

While talking about this update, the Western Railway mentioned that the move aims to curb misuse, promote transparency, and ensure genuine passengers have better chances of securing Tatkal tickets.

Further adding, the officer said, “Passengers are advised to provide a valid and reachable mobile number during booking to avoid delays.”

They have implemented this new procedure firstly on Train No. 12009/12010, the Mumbai Central–Ahmedabad Shatabdi Express.