For crores of passengers traveling by Indian Railways, ‘Tatkal Quota’ becomes the biggest support in case of sudden travel decision. However, due to the seats being filled within a few seconds as soon as the window is opened on the IRCTC app or website, a large number of passengers still consider it safer to buy tickets from the Passenger Reservation System (PRS) counter of the railway station. If you are also planning to go to the station and book Tatkal tickets, then the token system made by the Railways for crowd control and to stop touts and Mathematics of ‘A’ and ‘B’ category It is very important to understand.
Tatkal ticket booking timings
Tatkal ticket booking for both counter and online mode from the date of journey a day ago (Starts 1 day before the train departs from the originating station):
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AC Classes – 1A, 2A, 3A, 3E, CC: Morning at 10:00 Booking starts from.
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Non-AC Classes – Sleeper, 2S: Morning at 11:00 Booking starts from.
How does Tatkal’s token system work at the counter?
To prevent early morning queues and chaos at stations, serial number based ‘tokens’ are issued to passengers between 6:00 am and 8:00 am by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and the Commercial Department.
The passenger has to go to the counter and show his original ID proof and submit the filled Tatkal form. The person standing in the queue is then given a token number, and when the booking window opens at 10:00 or 11:00, the same token is called to the counter in sequence. Maximum on one form 4 passengers Only Tatkal ticket can be booked.
What is the complete mathematics of ‘A’ and ‘B’ categories in Tatkal tickets?
To ensure priority and transparency of passengers in Tatkal booking under Railway Reservation System (PRS), the applications are divided into categories:
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Category ‘A’: This category is for those passengers who are traveling by train. Originating Station Or starting the journey from major stations of the same cluster. Passengers who are early in token allotment and queuing are given priority in Category A. As soon as the counter opens in the morning, the system processes the forms of this primary queue first.
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Category ‘B’: This category is for passengers who are boarding from Intermediate Stations/En-route or who have arrived late in the queue and come to the second stage of the token process. If remote location or intermediate quota is available in a train, Category B tickets are processed after the primary forms of Category A are processed.
The simple objective of this category division is to ensure that genuine passengers traveling on first arrivals and traveling long distances have maximum chances of getting seats.
Important rules to be kept in mind while taking tatkal ticket from the counter
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ID Proof Mandatory: It is mandatory for the main passenger traveling or the person coming to book the ticket to have the original identity card (Aadhaar, PAN, Voter ID, Driving License etc.) as per the details given in the form.
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Cancellation and Refund: If your Tatkal ticket is confirmed, then on canceling it as per railway rules Zero Refund not get. However, if the ticket remains in the waiting list and is not confirmed even after charting, the balance amount is refunded after deducting clerk charges.
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Train Cancellation Status: If the train is late by more than 3 hours or the passenger does not want to travel due to route diversion, then full refund can be taken by filing TDR.
Reaching early in the morning, filling the form in neat letters and getting the token is the surest way to get a confirmed Tatkal ticket from the counter.