CAG cites bunglings in Tatkal ticket bookings

Bunglings in Tatkal ticket bookings came to the fore today with the CAG report holding booking clerks, agents and touts responsible for the non-availability of the facility to genuine passengers.

The audit of Tatkal and advance reservation system in railways revealed that genuine users for whom the scheme was meant were not able to access the facility with ease as it was susceptible to manipulation.

"There were irreuglarities such as booking of all Tatkal quota tickets within a few minutes of the opening of reservation,"  the report tabled in Parliament said.

There were always complaints of cornering of majority of Tatkal tickets by touts and agents in collision with booking clerks.

After examining the accessibility of the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) server, CAG has found that during login at the website exactly at 8 am on the day of booking for Tatkal or general tickets, the system would hang.

"It took 4-5 minutes to login, by which time Tatkal quota was sold out," the report said.

It also said the general application and controls in the reservation and also internet booking systems were inadequate, which again left scope for manual intervention in the network, that further aided the manipulation.

The advance reservation period fixed for Tatkal tickets was five days, excluding the date of journey, which was revised to two days. These tickets can be booked between 8am and 8pm on week days and between 8 am and 2pm on holidays.