Passengers faced significant challenges while booking train tickets due to a disruption in Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) services.
Many were unable to make bookings, and others experienced cancellations. The website displayed downtime messages for a prolonged period.
IRCTC announced that for the next 24 hours, passengers would not be able to create new accounts or change passwords.
This restriction is in effect from 4 PM on 9 December to 4 PM on 10 December.
Tatkal Booking Affected
The downtime occurred before 10 AM, a crucial time for booking Tatkal tickets.
As a result, passengers were unable to book these tickets, leading to frustration expressed on social media.
Keywords like “IRCTC” and “Tatkal” trended on platforms like X as angry passengers voiced their concerns.
The downtime message displayed on the IRCTC website read:
“E-ticketing service is not available due to maintenance activity.
Try later. For cancellation/file TDR, please call customer service number 14646, 0755-6610661, and 0755-4090600 or mail to etickets@irctc.co.in.”
Possible Reasons and Resolution
IRCTC has not yet clarified the reasons for the disruption. Typically, maintenance work is scheduled after 11 PM, so passengers were surprised to see the maintenance message during Tatkal booking hours. Speculation arose about potential technical issues or a cyber threat.
Currently, the IRCTC app and website are functioning normally, and passengers can book tickets as usual.
IRCTC has clarified that from 4 pm on December 9 until 4 pm on December 10, passengers will not be able to create new accounts or change the passwords of existing accounts.
However, after the maintenance, the website and app have resumed normal operations, and passengers can now book tickets as usual.
