Tatkal Scheme

The Tatkal scheme of Indian railways was introduced to help the
Indian Railways pessengers to book ticket in case of emergencies.
The introduction of 'Tatkal' Scheme by Indian Railways has
been proved beneficial for latecomers. 'Tatkal' is an emergency
reservation scheme. The 'Tatkal' scheme is applicable to more
than 100 trains throughout India. Under this scheme, people
can book their tickets just 5 days before the actual date
of journey. The booking for 'Tatkal' opens at 08:00 hrs IST
five days prior to the definite date of journey. In case,
the train is leaving on the 26th, 'Tatkal' booking will start
at 08:00 hrs IST on the 21st of the respective month.The tatkal
scheme is a huge success in Indian Railways.

At present, the whole coach is not designated as Tatkal Coach. In each train, there is a 'Tatkal' quota in 2A, 3A, AC Chair Car and Sleeper Classes

After offering the seats in 'Tatkal' quota, if any seats are left, then they will be released to the passengers' in the waiting list. The trains and classes with standard utilization of 80% or above (from Apr' to Sep') will be realized from regular 'Tatkal' charges that are applicable for the peak period.

Things to be kept in mind before going for 'Tatkal Scheme':

• 'Tatkal' bookings are permitted in all classes except First AC and Executive Class.
• Identity proof is not required under 'Tatkal' scheme in any case.
• One cannot opt for Ladies and General quota with 'Tatkal' quota.
• One must check for 'Tatkal' quota in advance because for some trains/ class/ locations 'Tatkal' quota could not be available.
• In 'Tatkal' booking, no concessions are allowed, not even to senior citizens.
• 'Tatkal' bookings can be done up to five days in advance.
• The delivery time for 'Tatkal' tickets remains the same like normal tickets, so it is recommended to book tickets considering the delivery time.
• Tatkal tickets can be booked simply from the source station to destination station.
• Change of name is not allowed on the bookings made under this scheme.
• Reservation under this scheme would be offered till the time of charts preparation.
• The booking under Tatkal Scheme will be done only from originating to terminating point of the train with boarding facility from intermediate station.
• On cancellation of ticket, one would receive an amount of 25% of total fare charged on non-confirmed ticket (excluding Tatkal Charges). The ticket can be cancelled up to 24 hrs before the scheduled time for the departure of train. No refund would be granted on the confirmed 'Tatkal' tickets, if cancelled within 24 hrs of the scheduled departure,

• Tatkal booking opens at  8AM on five days before of actual date of journey excluding date of journey .For example in respect of train leaving on 6th,Tatkal Booking will Commence at 8AM on 1st.

• NO proof of identity is required to be produced by the passenger seeking reservation under tatkal scheme nither at the time of booking nor during the journey.

• Instead of full coach being presently nominated as Tatkal Coach, there will be Tatkal quota in each train in 2A, 3A, AC Chair Car and sleeper classes as under:-

             2A - 4 berths per coach
                3A - 6 berths per coach
                AC Chair Car - 6 seats per coach and
                SL - 10% of the accomodation on one coach whichever is less

•  In those trains and classes where average utilization of Tatkal accommodation during six months period i,e April to September is 80% and above,tatkal charges applicable during peak period will be charged through out the year i.e for both peak and non peak period.

• accommodation to be earmarked under Tatkal scheme should be enhanced as under

• There will be no separate Tatkal train defined. The unutilised Tatkal quota will get released to waitlisted passengers.

• Tatkal charges have been revised as under:-

• The facility of change of name is not permitted on the bookings made under this scheme.

• The reservation under this scheme shall be available only upto the time of preparation of charts.

• For the purpose of granting refunds & issuing TDRs for W/L, the time limit will be the same as applicable for refund of normal tickets.

• REFUNDS   -   A flat refund of 25% of total fare charged on the ticket , excluding tatkal charge is granted on cancellation of tatkal ticket , which are   presented for cancellation upto 24 hours before the schedule departure of the train. However, full refund of fare and tatkal charges will be granted on the tickets booked under this scheme in the following circumstances :-

• If the train is delayed by more than 3 hours at the journey originating point of the passenger & not the boarding point if the passenger's journey originating point and boarding point are different.

• If the train is to run on a diverted route and passenger is not willing to travel.

• If the train is to run on diverted route and boarding station or the destination or both the station are not on the diverted route.

• In case of non attachment of coach in which Tatkal accommodation has been earmarked and the passenger has not been provided  accommodation in the same class.

• If the party has been accommodated in lower class and does not want to travel .In case the party travels in lower class, the passenger will be given refund of different of fare and also the different of Tatkal  charges,if any.

• The reservation under this scheme is available only up to the time of preparation of charts.

• The booking Tatkal scheme will be done only from originating to terminating point of the train with boarding facility from intermediate station . However, Zonal railways have been given the discretion of imposing restrictions on Tatkal booking regarding defining trains as end-to-end or keeping it free or imposing distance restriction etc. Keeping in view  the over all utilization of the accommodation available in the train.      

REVISED TATKAL SCHEME FOR RESERVATION 

The broad features of the revised Tatkal Scheme are as under: 

1. To meet the urgent travel requirement of the passengers who plan their journey at short notice, Tatkal reservation facility be provided in the train. 

2. The reservation under this scheme can be sought by full fare paying passengers only and no passenger holding concessional ticket may be allowed to avail reservation under this scheme. 

3. The reservation under this scheme will commence at 8.A.M on the previous day for which the reservation is being sought.

4. There will not be Tatkal train defined separately in PRS. The Tatkal coaches presently running will be included in the train service composition. The Tatkal accommodation will, therefore, be earmarked as a quota in the train service coach like any other quota. The Tatkal Scheme will be available in Sleeper, AC Chair Car, AC-3 tier and AC-2 tier classes in all Mail/Express trains including Rajdhani/Shatabdi/Jan Shatabdi Express trains. 

The general guidelines for earmarking of accommodation under this scheme will be as under: - 

a) To bring uniformity in the accommodation to be earmarked in various classes, the following accommodation shall be earmarked in different classes: - 

AC-2 tier 4 berths per coach
AC-3 tier 6 berths per coach
AC Chair Car 6 seats per coach

Sleeper class 10 % of the accommodation or one coach whichever is less 

(b) The utilisation of berths earmarked as Tatkal accommodation will be periodically reviewed and reduced, if necessary, based on the actual utilisation. 

5. The accommodation so earmarked shall be defined in PRS and booking will be done on first come first served basis. 

6. Earlier a passenger seeking reservation under Tatkal Scheme had to produce any one proof of Identity at the time of booking and was also supposed to carry the same identity card during the journey, failing which he was considered travelling without ticket and excess charged accordingly. This had led to a number of complaints. As such it has been decided that as an experimental measure, no proof of identity will be required to be produced by the passenger seeking reservation under Tatkal scheme, either at the time of booking or during the journey. This provision shall be reviewed after a period of 6 months trial.

7. The facility of change of name is not permitted on the bookings made under Tatkal Scheme. 

8. The premium on Tatkal Scheme on different classes will be as under:- 

9. No refund will be permissible on the reservations made under Tatkal scheme. Even in case the coach, in which accommodation under Tatkal Scheme has been earmarked, is not attached and the accommodation has been provided to the Tatkal passengers in the normal train service in the same class, no refund will be permissible. However, full refund of fare and Tatkal Charges will be granted on the tickets booked under this scheme in the following circumstances: - 

(i) If the train is delayed by more than 3 hours from the train originating station;

(ii) In case of non-attachment of coach in which Tatkal Accommodation has been earmarked and the passenger has not been provided accommodation in the same class. 

(iii) If the party has been accommodated in lower class and does not want to travel. In case the party travels in lower class, the passenger will be given refund of difference of fare and also the difference of Tatkal charges, if any. 

10. For the purpose of granting refunds & issuing TDRs in circumstances mentioned above, the time limit will be the same as applicable for refund of normal tickets. 

11. The reservation under this scheme shall be available only upto the time of preparation of charts. At the time of preparation of charts, the vacant Tatkal accommodation shall be released to the RAC/waitlisted passengers and no Tatkal charges shall be realized from such passengers. 

12. After preparation of charts, there will be no Tatkal accommodation and all vacant accommodation in the train, if any, shall be treated as general accommodation and booked accordingly. The accommodation becoming available in the train due to non-turning up of passengers booked under Tatkal Scheme will be treated like normal train service accommodation and no Tatkal charges shall be realized for such accommodation also. 

13. The Tatkal charges would be reflected in PRS data under separate field. 

14. The booking under Tatkal Scheme will be done only from originating to terminating point of the train with boarding facility from intermediate station. Any passenger boarding from an intermediate station can book Tatkal Accommodation but ticket will be end-to-end and charged accordingly, with permission to board the train from intermediate station. 

In case, the train is originating from or terminating at a less important station from passengers’ traffic point of view, the railways can earmark Tatkal reservation quota at the originating station and one more major important station where the number of berths/seats available for reservation are large, e.g. in case of 2904 Amritsar-Mumbai Central Golden Temple Mail, the railway can earmark Tatkal reservation quota at Amritsar and New Delhi for the passengers going to Mumbai Central from these stations. The booking against the quota earmarked at Amritsar will be done in respect of journey commencing only from Amritsar and other stations enroute (short of New Delhi) upto Mumbai Central. Similarly, against the quota earmarked at New Delhi, the booking can be done for journey commencing ex New Delhi and other stations towards Mumbai Central. The fare will, however, be charged from Amritsar to Mumbai Central for booking against Amritsar quota and from New Delhi to Mumbai Central in case of booking against New Delhi quota irrespective of the station from which the journey is commencing.

Indian Railways has decided to extend Tatkal reservation scheme to all Mail and Express trains in both AC and non-AC classes and bookings for the scheme will begin from November 14.

Tatkal reservation is presently available in about 100 trains mostly in non-AC class. With the new scheme commencing on November 14, the availability of Tatkal berths and seats will increase manifold, an official release said in New Delhi on Thursday.

In air-conditioned classes, the number of berths available for Tatkal booking will increase from the present 700 to about 11,000 berths and seats per day, it said.

The number of berths and seats available in the non-AC classes per day will also go up from the present 6,000 to about 36,000 per day.

The new scheme will cover all important Mail and Express trains by December 31, 2004.

The Tatkal charges for the peak season have been revised. In 2^nd AC, the charges would go up from Rs 200 to Rs 300, while in 3^rd AC.

The increase would be from Rs 150 to Rs 300, the release said, adding that charges would be Rs 150 instead of earlier Rs 50 in AC Chair Car. In sleeper class, the increase would be from Rs 50 to Rs 150 during peak season.

However, during the non-peak season from July 15 to September 15, the charges have been pegged at Rs 200 per berth for 2^nd AC and 3^rd AC. The charges for AC Chair Car will be Rs 75 and Sleeper Car will be Rs 75, it added.

Know all about Trains between important stations of Indian Railways.

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Everything about Tatkal Scheme of Indian Railways.

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