Tatkal ticket booking rules 2018: everything you wanted to know

Photo by:  Belur Ashok, Creative Commons Attribution Licence

The new rules for booking IRCTC’s Tatkal tickets are here again and many travellers must be getting confused.. With the arrival of festive season, people make some last moment travel bookings and, to help them, the Indian Railways has made provision online booking for Tatkal tickets.

Read More: Indian Railways to offer discounts similar to airlines and hotels

Because of the Tatkal booking online facility provided by the IRCTC, people can travel to the destination they want even during the peak travel season. However, the railways keep changing rules for Tatkal reservations and leave people in a confused state most of the time. To make you understand Tatkal ticket booking rules 2018, we have prepared the important facts that will help you get clarity on the subject.

Here’s a quick look at some of the major IRCTC’s Tatkal ticket booking rules as they stand in 2018:

1) Booking for AC Tatkal tickets will begin from 10 AM in the morning while for non-AC at 11 AM (a day before the actual date of travel).

2) In case the train for which you have booked a Tatkal ticket is more than three hours late (from the originating point of the traveller and not the boarding point, remember both are different), the passenger can claim a complete refund of fare and Tatkal charges on booked tickets.

3) The passenger can claim a full refund of fare and Tatkal charges if the train’s route is diverted and the passenger doesn’t want to travel.

4) If the train’s route is diverted and the boarding station/destination or both are not on the diverted route, then also a passenger can claim a refund of fare and charges on Tatkal tickets.

Photo by:  Belur Ashok, Creative Commons Attribution Licence

5) The passenger can claim a full refund if the coach in which Tatkal accommodation is provided has been detached from the train and the passenger is not offered accommodation in the same class.

6) Full refund will be provided if a passenger is being accommodated in lower class and doesn’t wish to travel in the lower class. If the passenger agrees to travel in the lower class, he/she will be refunded the difference of fare along with the difference of Tatkal charges.

Tatkal ticket booking charges as per IRCTC 2018 rules:

According to the railways’ official website, here are the new booking charges rules for 2018.

Travel Class.       Mini.     Max.    Mini dist

Second sitting.     10.        15.        100

Sleeper.                  100.      200.      500

AC Chair Car.         125.      225.      250

AC 3 Tier.                300.      400.      500

AC 2 Tier.                400.      500.      500

Executive.               400.       500.      250