World · India Bureau
IRCTC clamps down on fake accounts used for ticket scalping
Indian Railways' ticketing platform has deactivated millions of user accounts and suspended crores more in a major crackdown against agents exploiting the system. The action targets widespread abuse where unauthorized intermediaries bulk-book tickets through bogus accounts and resell them at inflated prices.
LSN India ·
The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has taken decisive action to combat systematic ticket fraud on its online booking platform. The organization has deactivated over 3 crore user IDs while suspending an additional 6.33 crore accounts implicated in fraudulent activities.
The crackdown targets a persistent problem where unauthorized agents exploit the IRCTC system by creating fake user identities to execute bulk ticket bookings. Once secured, these tickets are then resold to passengers at significantly marked-up rates, undermining the railways' efforts to ensure fair access to tickets at official prices.
This large-scale account suspension represents a significant escalation in IRCTC's efforts to safeguard the integrity of India's railway reservation system. The ticketing platform has long grappled with unauthorized resellers who capitalize on high demand for popular routes, effectively creating a secondary market that disadvantages ordinary travelers.
The deactivation of such a substantial number of accounts signals the railways' commitment to eliminating coordinated fraud operations. By removing fake IDs from circulation, IRCTC aims to restore direct access between genuine passengers and available ticket inventory, ensuring allocations reach legitimate customers at standardized fares rather than through middlemen seeking profits.
Railways have indicated they will continue monitoring the platform for suspicious booking patterns and unauthorized account creation schemes to prevent resurgence of similar fraudulent practices.