Tatkal is a booking quota introduced by the Indian Railways for passengers who need to travel on short notice or have been unable to secure a confirmed ticket on the General Quota
. Under this scheme, a certain number of seats in a train are set aside for passengers traveling on short notice, and these seats are released only one day before the chart preparation
. The Advance Reservation Period (ARP) for Tatkal tickets is one day prior to the journey, calculated by excluding the date of journey, which is determined based on the train originating station
. The booking window for Tatkal tickets is as follows:
- From 10:00 am onwards for all AC classes except 1 AC
- From 11:00 am onwards for sleeper (SL) and all other non-AC classes like First Class (FC) and ARP for Tatkal Tickets
Tatkal tickets can be booked through the Indian Railways website (irctc.co.in) or at PRS counters in railway stations
. Passengers booking Tatkal tickets should pay the full fare while booking
. Some key points about Tatkal ticket booking include:
- Tatkal bookings are allowed in all classes except First AC
- Passengers can cancel their Tatkal tickets 30 minutes before the departure of the train
- No refund will be granted on the cancellation of confirmed Tatkal tickets
- For contingent cancellation and waitlisted Tatkal ticket cancellations, charges will be deducted as per existing Railway rules
In addition to the Tatkal scheme, Indian Railways has also introduced a new ticketing scheme called Premium Tatkal, which follows a dynamic fare system where ticket prices increase based on demand
