Kerala High Court backs Aadhaar card for tatkal booking, suggests PAN as alternative

“The reason for insisting on Aadhaar authentication through the IRCTC website has a justification and is based on past experience of alleged deceit, manipulation, and bulk booking; the wisdom of such decision cannot be held to be unjustified even on the application of the proportionality test,” the July 22 order read.  

Aadhaar-based authentication affecting privacy

The man’s counsel, advocate S Prasath (Ayyappankavu), submitted that the man is a public-spirited individual and is aggrieved by the notification issued on June 10, which he claimed disproportionately abrogated the right to privacy and informational autonomy of citizens.

The counsel claimed that the said notification failed to address the actual infrastructure and technical deficiencies affecting the Tatkal ticketing system. It was further submitted that before June 10, 2025, there was no requirement of Aadhaar-based authentication even for Tatkal bookings. 

Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Syam Kumar V M uphold Aadhaar OTP for Tatkal bookings, but advised IRCTC to explore PAN Card as an alternative.

Aadhaar ‘optional’

The court held that since sharing Aadhaar details for online IRCTC bookings was optional, and the requirement had a justification rooted in past experience of alleged deceit, manipulation and bulk booking, the policy could not be held “unjustified” even on applying the proportionality test.

However, the bench found substance in the petitioner’s submission that PAN Card-based authentication could achieve the same result as Aadhaar, since PAN-linked transactions also involve an OTP-based verification step.

Accordingly, the court pointed out that IRCTC may consider offering Aadhaar or PAN Card as alternative options for authentication, since either could lead to the same desired outcome.

IRCTC’s plea: Preventing bulk booking

The Railways and IRCTC, represented by Additional Solicitor General of India P Sreekumar, submitted that the policy was meant to ensure only genuine individual users could access the Tatkal booking system, and to prevent bulk booking by touts, syndicates and automated software.

The IRCTC submitted an affidavit on April 1, stating that Aadhaar authentication does not physically increase server capacity, but that it works as a demand-regulating mechanism, curbing artificial congestion caused by multiple accounts and automated access.

The affidavit further highlighted that authentication was carried out only with the informed consent of the user, through encrypted channels, and that no Aadhaar number was stored by IRCTC or the Railways, with the authentication response limited to a yes/no confirmation.

It was also pointed out by IRCTC that Aadhaar authentication is a one-time exercise, not required before every booking, and that passengers who do not wish to use Aadhaar can book Tatkal tickets through counters, or even offline, without any such requirement.

(Written by Avinash Verma, Avinash is an Intern with The Indian Express)