IRCTC account holders can book e-tickets for others having different surnames: Railways

The Railway Ministry has issued a statement clarifying that any individual with an IRCTC account can book e-tickets for others, dismissing as false and misleading a social media claim suggesting restrictions based on differing surnames.

A post on the social media platform X claimed that a person with an account on the website of the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) will be not able to book tickets from his account for other people who carry different surnames. A spokesperson from the Railway Ministry denied the claim, saying the news doing rounds on social media about restrictions on booking e-tickets due to different surnames was not true.

The spokesperson also mentioned that tickets are booked on the IRCTC website as per the guidelines of the Railway Board and information related to these guidelines is publicly available. 

The spokesperson said that a IRCTC account holder can book up to 12 tickets in a month. If the account is Aadhaar-authenticated, then one can book upto  24 tickets per month, on the condition that at least one passenger on each ticket is also Aadhaar-authenticated. The spokesperson said, “Tickets booked on personal user IDs are not for commercial sale and doing so is an offence under Section 143 of the Railways Act, 1989.”