New Delhi: The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) intensified its anti-fraud and cybersecurity initiatives during the year to ensure genuine passengers get fair access to ticket bookings and curb misuse of the system.
As part of these efforts, IRCTC informed that the company deactivated 3.03 lakh crore suspicious user IDs in 2025. It also intercepted large amounts of malicious online traffic on a regular basis, which helped maintain the integrity of the ticketing system.
In coordination with law enforcement agencies, 501 complaints have been filed on the National Cybercrime Portal related to 4.18 lakh suspicious PNRs, IRCTC said in its official statements. Additionally, 6.05 crore suspicious user IDs have been put under re-verification to verify their authenticity and prevent misuse. IRCTC also took action against fraudulent digital identities by blocking 13,343 suspicious email domains during the year.
It is learned that to provide a level playing field during high traffic windows (like Tatkal bookings), IRCTC is using AI/ML to detect and neutralize fraudulent accounts. AI tracks and deactivates bulk booking agents and users exploiting disposable email addresses.
It is also worth noting that IRCTC has made significant achievements in online ticketing during 2025-26, recording record growth in online bookings while simultaneously strengthening its mechanisms to combat cyber fraud and unauthorized bookings.
According to official data, IRCTC booked an average of 14.53 lakh tickets per day during 2025-26, which was a significant increase from the average daily bookings of 13.88 lakh tickets recorded in 2024-25. These numbers confirm the increasing reliance of travelers on digital platforms for railway reservations.
IRCTC also set new benchmarks in ticket booking volumes during the year. The highest booking-per-minute record was achieved on August 16, 2025, when 37,410 tickets were booked at 10:02 a.m. Another milestone was recorded on August 19, 2025, when the platform recorded its highest ever single-day booking volume of 18.40 lakh tickets.
According to the data, digital platforms continued to dominate railway bookings, with nearly 89 per cent of all railway tickets booked in 2025-26 being booked through IRCTC’s online channels.
It has also been learned that the voice and text chat software called AskDisha plays a key role in ticket booking, PNR status enquiry, ticket cancellation and refund. It is powered by Microsoft Azure. The chatbot understands English, Hindi and Hinglish, making it accessible to a wide user base. In the financial year 2025-26, around 8.12 lakh railway e-tickets were booked through Chatbot.
The combination of higher capacity and stricter checks reflects IRCTC’s quest to strike a balance between speed and security as digital tickets become the default option for millions of rail passengers.
IRCTC officials said the record numbers validate the infrastructure upgrades, while the crackdown on fraudulent IDs aims to reduce Tatkal outages and keep the platform accessible to genuine users.
