Indian Railways Deactivates 25mn Suspicious User IDs in Crackdown on Ticket Booking Scam

Moneylife Digital Team 05 June 2025

Consumer Interest

In a major digital crackdown, Indian Railways has deactivated 25mn (million) or 2.5 crore suspicious user IDs linked to unauthorised automated ticket bookings. The action follows the deployment of advanced artificial intelligence (AI)-driven BOT (short for robot) mitigation tools and integration with a leading content delivery network (CDN), aimed at curbing fraudulent booking activities, especially during high-demand windows like Tatkal, the ministry of railways says.

According to the ministry, the move was part of a comprehensive effort to secure its e-ticketing system and improve access for genuine users.

It says, "The newly upgraded system has successfully eliminated bot traffic, which previously accounted for nearly 50% of login attempts during the first few minutes of Tatkal bookings. The result has been a smoother, fairer ticketing experience for lakhs of legitimate users. On 22 May 2025, the platform recorded a new milestone with 31,814 tickets booked in a single minute — the highest ever — underscoring the robustness and scalability of the upgraded digital infrastructure."

The ministry also introduced revised booking protocols to prevent misuse. "Users who have not completed Aadhaar authentication must now wait three days after registration before they can book opening advance reservation period (ARP), Tatkal, or premium tatkal tickets. In contrast, Aadhaar-verified users can book tickets immediately, a move designed to deter the mass creation of fake accounts often used for bot-based ticket purchases."

The impact of the reforms has been significant. The average number of daily user logins rose to 8.26mn (or 82.57 lakh) in FY24–25, a 19.5% increase over the previous year. Daily ticket bookings also increased by 11.85% during the same period. E-ticketing now accounts for 86.38% of all reserved tickets, reflecting the public’s growing trust in the digital platform the ministry says.

Additional measures include the use of AI to actively detect and block bot activity and the delivery of 87% of static content via CDN for faster page loads and reduced server burden. Suspicious users flagged during the automated screening process are now being referred to the cybercrime portal for further investigation and action, it added.

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