IRCTC website goes down during Tatkal booking; netizens fume

The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) application and website reportedly went down on Thursday, causing immense frustration among passengers trying to book Tatkal tickets amid the peak holiday season.

Several users took to social media sites such as X (formerly Twitter) to voice their complaints, highlighting their inability to access the site. Downdetector, an online outage tracking platform, reported a spike in issues around 10:25 am, with nearly 2,500 users filing complaints.

An error statement on the website stated that the e-ticketing service was unavailable due to maintenance activities. However, this explanation did little to calm irate passengers, especially since this is the second major outage this month, despite the platform undergoing a one-hour maintenance on December 9.

India is the largest IT hub in the world, yet it cannot fix a website. You can collect taxes but fail to provide proper services in return. What a shame!@IRCTCofficial @RailwaySeva @RailMinIndia #IRCTC #Down #Rail pic.twitter.com/AAl8ljmSr5

— Guy On The Street (@msdneville) December 26, 2024

Please leave this business you guys are not capable .

Hire talent or privatize this fully #irctc @IRCTCofficial @AshwiniVaishnaw #IndianRailways pic.twitter.com/2mDGzMm36z

— Himanshu Aggarwal (@zeroformality) December 26, 2024

“Indians run some of the biggest tech companies in the world but Indian IT websites tell the exact opposite story,” wrote one user on X. “Fastest growing IT hub but all talent is sent abroad,” said another.

Several others vented their frustration against the platform with jibes like "Every day at 10 AM, the IRCTC website crashes, and by the time it’s back up, only premium tickets at double prices are available” and “Please pay your developers better. They are underpaid and it shows”.

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Notably, Tatkal bookings, which are critical for passengers needing to book tickets one day before departure, start at 10 AM for AC classes and 11 AM for non-AC classes. As such, the current outage sparked outrage, with users accusing the platform of mismanagement and questioning the transparency of the booking process.

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Additionally, recent changes to Indian Railways' ticket booking policies, which reduced the Advance Reservation Period from 120 days to 60 days starting November 1, have already left passengers on edge.