Indian Railways has not changed the Tatkal booking timings and rules
A graphic claiming that Indian Railways has revised the Tatkal and Premium Tatkal train ticket booking timings, with new rules for booking and cancellation coming into effect from 15 April 2025, is going viral on social media platforms (here, here, and here). In this article, we fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Indian Railways has revised Tatkal and Premium Tatkal booking timings, with new rules effective from 15 April 2025.
Fact: Indian Railways has not changed the Tatkal booking timings. IRCTC has issued a clarification regarding the viral claims, stating that there has been no change to the timings for booking Tatkal and Premium Tatkal tickets. It also clarified that the permitted booking timings for agents remain unchanged. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
To verify the authenticity of the viral claim, we visited the official website of IRCTC. However, we did not find any press release or information indicating changes to the Tatkal ticket booking timings. We then reviewed the information available on the IRCTC website regarding the rules and timings for booking Tatkal tickets. According to the website (here, here), Tatkal e-tickets can be booked for selected trains one day in advance, excluding the date of journey, from the train’s originating station. Bookings open at 10:00 AM for AC classes (2A/3A/CC/EC/3E) and at 11:00 AM for non-AC classes (SL/FC/2S). For example, if a train is scheduled to depart from the originating station on the second of the month, Tatkal bookings will commence at 10:00 AM for AC classes and 11:00 AM for non-AC classes on the first of the month.
We also conducted a relevant keyword search to check whether IRCTC is planning to revise the Tatkal and Premium Tatkal booking timings or introduce any new rules in the near future. This search led us to several news reports (here, here, here), which state that the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has officially refuted the claims circulating on social media regarding such changes.
On 11 April 2025, in response to these viral claims, IRCTC issued a clarification on its official X (formerly Twitter) handle, stating that no such changes have been planned and that the Tatkal timings remain unchanged. The post reads: “Some posts are circulating on social media channels mentioning different timings for Tatkal and Premium Tatkal tickets. No such change in timings is currently proposed in the Tatkal or Premium Tatkal booking timings for AC or non-AC classes. The permitted booking timings for agents also remain unchanged.”
Additionally, on 11 April 2025, the Government of India’s PIB Fact Check unit also issued a statement on its official X (formerly Twitter) handle, stating that these claims are fake and confirming that no changes have been made to the current Tatkal or Premium Tatkal booking schedules for either AC or non-AC classes. It also reiterated that the permitted booking timings for agents remain unchanged.
Passengers should rely on the official IRCTC website (www.irctc.co.in) or official Indian Railways notifications for accurate and updated information.
To sum up, the claim regarding changes to Tatkal and Premium Tatkal ticket booking timings is false. IRCTC has clarified that there have been no changes to the booking timings for these tickets.