Railway to soon make OTP must for all Tatkal tickets bought at reservation counters
New Delhi (PTI): To book Tatkal train tickets from railway reservation counters, passengers will now have to provide a one-time password received on their mobile phones, a move officials say is aimed at curbing misuse of the last-minute ticket booking facility.
The Railway Ministry initiated the OTP-based Tatkal ticketing system for journeys booked from reservation counters on a pilot basis on November 17. It started with a few trains, and the number was soon increased to 52.
In the next few days, this reservation system at counters will be implemented for all remaining trains, the ministry said in a statement.
According to it, the OTP-based Tatkal reservation system was proposed to make the last-minute ticket-booking facility more convenient for common users.
"Under this system, while booking a Tatkal ticket at a reservation counter, the passenger receives an OTP on the mobile number provided in the reservation form. The ticket is confirmed only after successful OTP verification," the ministry said.
Officials stated the initiative is aimed at curbing misuse of the Tatkal facility and ensuring that genuine passengers have better access to high-demand tickets. This marks a significant step towards enhancing transparency, passenger convenience, and security in railway ticketing, they added.
In the past few months, the Railway Ministry introduced a couple of measures for passengers to get fair access to ticket reservations and discourage booking agents from exploiting the system for their own benefit.
In July, the Railway Ministry mandated Aadhaar verification through OTP for online ticket bookings under the Tatkal system across the country. From October 1, it permitted only Aadhaar-authenticated users to book reserved general tickets through the IRCTC website or app during the first 15 minutes after booking opens for any train.
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Trump vows to ‘finish job’, thanks Middle East allies; urges countries to show courage, buy US oil
Says US will ‘hit Iran extremely hard’ over next 2-3 weeks, threatens power plants
Washington: US President Donald Trump has said the United States is close to achieving its objectives in Iran, while thanking key allies in the Middle East for their support.
“We are gonna finish the job. We are getting very close,” Trump said, expressing appreciation to Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE and Bahrain. “They’ve been great and we will not let them fail in any way shape or form,” he added.
Trump claimed that US military operations against Iran have delivered major results over the past month. Referring to “Operation Epic Fury”, he said American forces had carried out “swift, decisive, overwhelming victories on the battlefield”.
He said Iran’s naval and air capabilities had been severely weakened and its ability to launch missiles and drones had been significantly reduced. “Their ability to launch missiles and drones is dramatically curtailed, and their weapons factories and rocket launchers are being blown to pieces – very few of them left,” he said.
The US president also repeated his criticism of the 2015 nuclear deal signed under former President Barack Obama, claiming it would have allowed Iran to develop nuclear weapons. Iran has consistently maintained that its nuclear programme is peaceful.
Trump said the US military campaign aims to weaken Iran’s ability to support proxy groups and prevent it from developing nuclear weapons. “Taken together, these actions will cripple Iran militarily,” he said, adding that key strategic objectives are “nearing completion”.
In a separate remark, Trump urged countries dependent on Gulf oil to take action and suggested they should rely more on American energy supplies. He called on them to show “delayed courage” and secure the Strait of Hormuz, which has been affected by the ongoing conflict.
“[They] should have done it before, should have done it with us, as we asked. Go to the strait and just take it, protect it,” he said, adding that the United States has sufficient oil resources.
The remarks come as tensions remain high in the region, with continued military exchanges and growing concerns over global energy supplies.
“We will continue until our objectives are fully achieved. Thanks to the progress, we’ve made, I can say we are on track to complete all of America’s objectives shortly, very shortly,” the US president said.
We are going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks. We are going to take them back to the stone ages where they belong,” he added.
He further added that “regime change was never our goal” but that “regime change has occurred because of their original leader’s death”.
He’s also warned Iran of strikes on power plants if no deal is agreed.
“If during this period of time, no deal is made, we have our eyes on key targets. If no deal is reached we are going to hit every one of their electric generating plants very hard, and probably simultaneously,” he says.
