Aadhaar based Rail Reservations for Senior Citizens Mandatory from April 2017.

Aadhaar based Rail Reservations for Senior Citizens Mandatory from April 2017.

Come April 1, 2017, reservation of rail tickets for senior citizens will be directly linked to Aadhaar or Unique Identification (UID) cards on a mandatory basis for both counter and e-tickets. However, such a requirement will be optional during January-March 2017.

The Railway Ministry has decided to implement Aadhaar-based ticketing system for senior citizens in a two-phased manner. Accordingly, from January 1 to March 31, 2017, requirement of Aadhaar verification for getting concessional tickets for senior citizens will be on a voluntary basis. From April 1, 2017, such a requirement would become mandatory.

Advance verification for senior citizens through Aadhaar card has already been taken up by providing notice to senior citizen passengers to submit their Aadhaar card details online on the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) website or through the reservation offices from December 1 this year onwards.

However, verification will be optional during the implementation of the first phase if a senior citizen wants to purchase ticket on full fare. But there will be no change in procedure with regard to concession to senior citizens in unreserved ticketing.

With effect from April 1, 2017, passengers in the senior citizen category will not need to carry any of the original documents, including Aadhaar card, for the purpose of identity proof.

It will bring in transparency in rail ticket reservations for senior citizens, making the verification process easy and convenient. It will also prevent misuse of such a facility as ticket collectors can instantly verify the claims of passengers. Our objective is to ensure that only bona fide passengers with legitimate tickets travel in trains and thereby prevent revenue losses to Indian Railways,” he pointed out.

A major benefit of Aadhaar linked rail reservations for senior citizens is that it will stop touts and unauthorized agents from booking tickets in fake names and then selling these at a higher price.