The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) website experienced a major outage this morning, disrupting Tatkal ticket bookings during the crucial 10 AM window. Passengers trying to access the platform encountered an error message stating, “Booking and cancellation for all sites will not be available for the next hour. Inconvenience caused is deeply regretted.”
This marks the second major disruption IRCTC has faced this month, following a similar issue on December 26. The latest crash has left many passengers frustrated, especially those trying to book Tatkal tickets, which are available only a day before departure.
Outage tracking service Downdetector recorded a sharp rise in problem reports during the morning hours. The platform indicated that around 700 users reported experiencing the issue.
IRCTC outage: Details Angry users took to social media to express their frustration, with several accusing the system of being manipulated. Many claimed that after the service was restored, only premium Tatkal tickets, priced at double the standard rates, were available. “Dear@IRCTCofficial, your tour services have consistently failed to meet expectations. Booking Tatkal tickets has been a frustrating experience, both 10 years ago and even now. It might be time to reconsider offering services that do not meet acceptable standards. @RailMinIndia,” wrote one user on X (formerly Twitter).
Another wrote “Why can’t the engineers/Govt think of any alternate solutions for irctc tatkal bottleneck. I have always faced problems when booking tatkal, what’s the purpose of a system if it cannot serve a purpose?”.