Tatkal scheme

The Tatkal Scheme is a ticketing program established by Indian Railways.The scheme is used for booking journeys at very short notice. Railway minister Nitish Kumar introduced it in all forms of reserved classes on almost all trains in India.It can be made both by online and offline.

Tatkal tickets can be booked over the counter in a railway station and on the internet at IRCTC.

Premium Tatkal was introduced on October 1, 2014 covering half of the tickets on certain trains. These tickets can be purchased online only. The program began with a pilot of about 80 trains. Premium Tatkal and regular Tatkal tickets operate in the same manner.

Misuse of this scheme led the Ministry of Railways to change the timing of Tatkal bookings in June 2015. Ticketing agents, including IRCTC agents, are prohibited from booking non-Tatkal tickets for 30 minutes from the opening of bookings.

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Wikipedia