IRCTC services might be affected as netizens on Tuesday slammed the Tatkal booking facility provided by the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), with many saying that they keep getting an ‘Error’ message whenever they use the app/website of the platform.
One user said, “If IRCTC Tatkal booking is made for brokers then this service should be stopped, False promises should not be shown. Whenever we book tatkal tickets , this drama happens”
“Everytime I am trying to book a Tatkal ticket I am facing this issue. Getting the same error again and again. What is wrong with IRCTC?” another user asked.
A frustrated user said: “@irctc_app is a JOKE!! Rail ONE app is also a joke. Entire system is shitty and buggy. A person waits, be on time and then gets stuck in the app causing mental stress and self harassment. It’s a torture. @IRCTCofficial is waste. Totally. The Servers. Apps. People. Everything.”
“Spent 30 minutes and ended up booking 0 tickets. Why ? Because the system got stuck at every step and then threw me out in the end ! Awesome work @RailMinIndia. Tatkal booking is a waste despite charging extra. The entire system is a waste,” he added.
This wave of criticism comes after Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, on 4 December, claimed that the IRCTC website was up for 99.98% of the time between April and October 2025.
There has still not been a major spike in reports of IRCTC being down.
Downdetector, for now, reports around 56 outages. While 68% of the reports were about problems on the website, 31% of the reports point to the app.
IRCTC outage during Tatkal hours is a commonly reported issue.
If one fails to book tickets using the IRCTC website and app, one can visit the nearest Railway PRS counter for the same.
Earlier this year, Indian Railways mandated Aadhaar verification for all IRCTC accounts for booking Tatkal tickets to control malpractices. “This will help genuine users get confirmed tickets during needed,” Vaishnaw had said.
Train fare to increase from December 26
This fresh outage comes just two days after the Indian Railways announced that it will increase passenger train fares again, across all classes, from 26 December. This is the second time the Railways have hiked the fare after July this year.
The fare hikes, ranging from one to two paise per kilometre, will earn the transporter about ₹600 crore in the remaining period of this fiscal year.
According to the ministry, the second fare rationalisation this fiscal would streamline tariff structures and enhance the financial sustainability of passenger services.
The revision effective from Friday would see fares for ordinary second class travel (non AC) rising by 1 paisa per km, while mail express non-AC class travel is to be revised by 2 paisa per km. AC class fares are also to rise by 2 paisa per km. However, Railways had decided there will be no change in fare for second class for travel up to a distance of 215 km.
