A man recently tried to book a Tatkal train ticket from Delhi to Darbhanga in Bihar using the IRCTC app. But when Sonu Nigam Singh opened the app to make the booking, he was met with a pop-up message that read “booking hasn’t started yet” and asked him to “try after some time.” What happened over the next three minutes left him completely puzzled. After refreshing the app, the train already showed a waiting list of 41.
Singh shared his frustrating experience online, saying that even with a fast internet connection, he was unable to secure a Tatkal ticket.
“Tatkal ticket booking reality,” wrote Singh while sharing two screenshots from the IRCTC app. He added, “Booking starts at 10 am, Garib Rath Express has 240 seats under Tatkal quota.”
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He explained that at 10:01 am, a message popped up on the app saying “booking not started”. “Then app crashes and starts buffering,” he wrote. “App responds. Now it shows status as waiting list 41.” It’s important to note that Tatkal 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).
Screenshots shared by Singh showed the app message: “Booking not yet started for the selected quota and class. Please try after some time.” Although these screenshots were taken in October 2024, they have now gone viral with over a million views.
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“Even with high-speed Internet, it’s close to impossible to book a Tatkal ticket. No idea how agents confirm that they will get it done,” Singh added.
“How does it happen remains a mystery,” he further said.
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Internet users share similar stories
After Singh’s post gained attention, many people online shared their own experiences. One user claimed that agents use special software to grab tickets instantly.
“There is an app which will give you either a confirmed ticket or a 3x refund. Try that and support this intentional manipulation. Legalising something which is illegal is at play here. And no one’s asking the right question,” wrote another user.
A third called it a “big scam”, saying, “Many ticket buyers easily get confirmed tickets from some so-called agents, but when they try to book online or offline, they always face too many problems.”
IRCTC responds
In response, IRCTC released a statement admitting that booking times can take longer during peak hours, especially under the Tatkal quota. The company said that they are working on improving the system for all users.
“During peak booking timings, particularly during Tatkal due to high demand, seat reservations are often filled rapidly due to the high volume of users accessing the system simultaneously. As the system processes multiple requests in real-time, processing may take additional time in case of a high number of parallel requests being processed,” the statement read.
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