By Kavita Mistry 
On 28 November, the Western Railway announced that they are making an important change to the Tatkal booking system for trains to make ticketing more transparent and passenger-friendly.
Western Railway Changing Tatkal Booking System
It appears that the Western Railway (WR) has introduced a new OTP-based system for Tatkal ticket bookings which came into effect from today, December 1, 2025.
This latest move by the Western Railway comes to curb the touts and fake reservations.
From today, the Tatkal tickets for the Mumbai Central-Ahmedabad Shatabdi Express will be issued only after passengers complete OTP (One Time Password) authentication as per the official statement.
As per this latest system, the system will send the OTP to the mobile number given by the passenger at the time of booking, said Western Railway’s Chief Public Relations Officer, Vineet Abhishek.
They will issue the ticket only after the OTP is successfully verified, the official added.
This latest system will be applicable to Tatkal bookings made through, Computerised PRS counters, Authorised agents, IRCTC website as well as IRCTC mobile app.
A Move to Curb Misuse & Promoting Transparency
While talking about this update, the Western Railway mentioned that the move aims to curb misuse, promote transparency, and ensure genuine passengers have better chances of securing Tatkal tickets.
Further adding, “Passengers are advised to provide a valid and reachable mobile number during booking to avoid delays.”
They have implemented this new procedure firstly on Train No. 12009/12010, the Mumbai Central–Ahmedabad Shatabdi Express.
Besides this the passengers are advised to ensure that their mobile numbers are active and correctly linked at the time of booking to avoid delays.
While talking about their future implementation, the Railway Board noted that the similar OTP-based verification will gradually be extended to all Shatabdi, Rajdhani, and 102 other premium trains across the country in the coming weeks.