IRCTC ticket booking online: Keeping track of illegitimate software is difficult, says Railways official

Indian Railways' ticketing organisation IRCTC has claimed that it is doing everything to prop up the system in the wake of rising demand online for tickets for Ganesh Chaturthi fest, which is still far off, for trains to the Konkan region. Over the past one week, the Konkan Railway has been overbooked with wait lists touching 1,000 in select trains, said a DNA India report.  People have been taking advantage of the 120 days-in-advance booking option for booking tickets, either by standing in queues or waking up early for booking tickets online. 

The agents,however, are giving sleepless nights to IRCTC as they use illegal software to book tickets. “Keeping track of illegitimate software is difficult. It is possible that over 1,000 tickets get booked in a second across the country,” a senior rail official told DNA. The agents reportedly take a commission of Rs 500 or more for each booking.  

Recently, Railway authorities reportedly seized 6,000 e-tickets, worth Rs 1.5 crore, booked using a software called ‘Counter’, which was used by over 5,000 agents. When grilled, the accused reportedly divulged the loopholes in the system. Some Railway personnel involved in the racket have also been suspended, the report said. 
 
“On an average 7.20 lakh tickets are getting booked per day over the last few days,” an official from IRCTC told DNA, claiming to have stationed Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel at ticket counters, besides installing CCTV cameras to ensure that agents do not stand in queues and book multiple tickets. 
 

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IRCTC, over the recent years, has been actively targetting touts to ensure they are stopped in their tracks and thereby enable passengers to quickly book their tickets without a hassle both though offline and online modes.