Indian Railways ticketing rules: Emergency quota rules tightened; same-day requests barred

The Indian Railways has issued a new circular revising its emergency quota (EQ) guidelines, requiring all requests to be submitted at least a day before travel.The move, aimed at ensuring timely chart preparation and avoiding operational delays, follows recent changes in reservation chart timings and Tatkal bookings.As per the circular issued on Tuesday, “Emergency quota request for all the trains leaving between 0000 hours and 1400 hours should reach the EQ cell up to 1200 hours on the previous day of journey.” For trains scheduled between 14:01 hours and 23:59 hours, the cutoff is 4:00 pm on the preceding day. Requests received on the same day as departure will no longer be accepted.In case of Sundays or public holidays, EQ requests must be submitted on the previous working day. “The requests for the release of accommodation in trains, for which the emergency quota is to be released on Sundays or clubbed holidays after Sundays, should be given during office hours on the previous working day,” the circular stated.The Railway Board’s EQ cell receives a high volume of requests from VIPs, senior officers, and other departments. The ministry acknowledged this, saying, “All efforts are made to allot the quota judiciously and with common prudence.” Officers have been instructed to strictly adhere to the new submission timings to avoid disruptions. “The allotments are given in time and chart preparation is not delayed, which not only results in extreme difficulties to the travelling public but can also lead to a delay in the departure of trains,” it added.The ministry also directed forwarding authorities to verify the authenticity of each request and comply with existing guidelines to prevent misuse.These changes come amid broader reforms to the ticketing system. Indian Railways recently revised its chart preparation time to eight hours before departure for better passenger clarity. For trains leaving before 2:00 pm, reservation charts will now be finalised at 9:00 pm the previous evening.Tatkal bookings have also seen reforms. From July 1, only verified users can book Tatkal tickets via IRCTC. OTP-based authentication is set to be rolled out by the end of the month. Users will need to validate their identity using Aadhaar or other government IDs linked to DigiLocker.A new passenger reservation system is also in the works and expected to go live by December 2025. As per ET, the upgraded system will be able to process 150,000 ticket bookings per minute, five times the current capacity, and handle 4 million enquiry requests per minute. It will feature a multilingual interface, allow users to choose seat preferences, view fare calendars, and provide dedicated booking features for Divyangjan, students, and patients.Indian Railways is also considering a move to reduce or remove “clerkage” charges deducted from refunds on cancelled or unconfirmed waitlisted tickets. Currently, passengers lose Rs 60 for reserved and Rs 30 for unreserved second-class tickets, even when cancelled online. If scrapped, this will offer significant relief to waitlisted travellers.