Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has directed Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) to launch a completely revamped website by July 15, 2026, issuing a strict 30-day deadline for officials to deliver an upgraded platform after a student raised concerns about the platform’s performance during a campus visit.
The directive came during Vaishnaw’s Thursday visit to Malaviya National Institute of Technology (MNIT) in Jaipur, where he announced the establishment of an advanced quantum computing and quantum communications lab under MeitY’s Electronics and ICT Academic Project. A female student from the institute flagged persistent issues with IRCTC’s booking portal, including slow loading speeds, CAPTCHA verification failures, and system crashes during peak Tatkal booking windows.
Vaishnaw immediately called IRCTC officials on the spot and ordered them to develop a new website addressing these technical shortcomings. The minister emphasized that the platform must be capable of handling high traffic volumes during Tatkal releases, when seats become available just one day before departure.
The IRCTC portal, which launched its online reservation system in 2002, handles millions of bookings daily and has faced long-standing criticism for its inability to manage traffic surges. Users have repeatedly reported that CAPTCHA verification and payment gateways struggle under load, preventing many from completing transactions during high-demand booking periods.
This directive follows Indian Railways’ recent removal of over three crore fake accounts from the IRCTC portal in an effort to curb ticket touting and reduce system congestion. The railways ministry also announced that Aadhaar authentication will be required for all Tatkal bookings starting July 1, 2025, to prevent misuse by agents.
The revamped website is expected to feature a more user-friendly interface and improved technical capacity. Vaishnaw’s public commitment, made before engineering students and captured on video, has established a clear deadline against which the ministry will be measured. MNIT Jaipur will also gain access to Lam Research’s “Semiverse” platform for semiconductor fabrication training, and an AI Lab connected to the IndiaAI Mission network will be established at the institute.
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