Crackdown on Touts, Unauthorised Ticketing Agencies and Illegal Vendors at Railway Stations

A special drive was launched by all Zonal Railways during summer period from 01.04.2017 to 30.06.2017 to conduct checks in mass contact areas. The drive was aimed at curbing malpractices of touting activities, ticketless passengers, misuse of facilities of e-ticketing etc.

An amount ofIndian Rupee (INR)1.18 crore (approx) was recovered during the special drive.

During the drive, 307 touts, 59115 unauthorized vendors and 07 illegal ticketing agencies have been prosecuted.

Some of the steps taken to make public aware of streamlining of reservation system and making it more transparent, are as under:

i. Educating general public through Public Address System and media, not to buy ticket from touts/unscrupulous elements and consequences of buying ticket from these sources.

ii. Restriction on agents on booking of tickets during first thirty minutes of opening of Advance Reservation Period (ARP) booking and Tatkal booking.

iii. Imparting information relating to availability of current status of reservation.

iv. Condition of carrying of original proof of identity during journey by any one of the passengers booked on the ticket, so as to check transfer of ticket.

v. Automatic preparation of reservation charts at least 4 hours before scheduled departure of train and thereafter booking of available accommodation through internet as well as through computerized Passenger Reservation System (PRS) counters.

vi. Making provision in the PRS system to transfer vacant available accommodation after preparation of second reservation chart to next charting station.

vii. Introduction of Alternate Train Accommodation Scheme (ATAS) known as VIKALP for providing confirmed accommodation to the willing waitlisted passengers in other Trains of same route thereby ensuring optimal utilization of available accommodation.

viii. Modification of Railway Passengers (Cancellation of Ticket and Refund of Fare) Rules to discourage speculative booking of tickets. No refund is granted to confirmed passengers after chart preparation.

ix. Provision of CCTVs at important PRS locations.

x. Only one booking in one user login session except for return/onward journey between 0800 and 1200 hours.

xi. Provision of CAPTCHA in the booking page of e-ticket/i-ticket on the IRCTC website to check use of scripting tools by unscrupulous elements for cornering of tickets.

xii. Introduction of a time check of 35 seconds for completion of online booking of tickets to avoid misuse through use of scripting software.

xiii. Making One Time Password (OTP) mandatory for payment of tickets booked online.

xiv. Conducting joint as well as independent checks by Commercial, Vigilance & Security Departments to curb the activities of touts, to curb the malpractices by Railway staff indulging in connivance with touts. Stringent action taken against the railway staff under Disciplinary and Appeal Rules, if found indulging in malpractices.

xv. Intensification of checks during peak rush and festival periods. Touts and unauthorized vendors are apprehended and prosecuted as per provision of Section 143 & 144 of the Railways Act, 1989. Illegal users of online e-ticketing are also prosecuted under provision of Section 143 of Railways Act, 1989.

xvi. Simultaneous checks conducted at Reservation Offices and on the trains to detect the cases of transferred reserved tickets i.e. persons found travelling fraudulently against accommodation actually reserved in the name of another passenger.

xvii. Conducting checks in booking offices, reservation offices, trains etc. to curb malpractices by Railway staff in connivance with touts. Deployment of RPF staff at important Passenger Reservation System (PRS) Centres to prevent touting activities.

xviii. Surveillance is kept on the possible activities of touts and unauthorized vendors through Close Circuit Television Cameras installed at important Railway Stations.

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