The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation’s (IRCTC) website and mobile application experienced a major outage on Thursday morning, preventing passengers from booking Tatkal tickets during the crucial 10 AM booking window. Users reported receiving “unable to perform action due to maintenance activity” errors when attempting to access the platform.
This marks the second significant disruption this month for IRCTC, following a scheduled one-hour maintenance period on December 9. The latest crash particularly affected travelers seeking Tatkal tickets, which can only be booked one day before departure.
Downdetector, a service that monitors online platform outages, confirmed a spike in problem reports during the morning hours.
Frustrated passengers took to social media to voice their concerns, with many alleging potential manipulation of the booking system. Multiple users reported that once the service resumed, only premium-priced tickets remained available at double the standard rates.
“When you open again all tatkal tickets get booked but only premium tickets with double prices are available,” one user complained on X (formerly Twitter), tagging Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and the Prime Minister’s Office.
The platform’s inability to handle peak Tatkal booking traffic drew criticism from users, with one pointing out the irony that “India reached the moon, but the Indian Railways ticket booking app can’t handle Tatkal booking without crashing.”
IRCTC has not yet issued an official response to the outage. The incident has raised questions about the platform’s server capacity during high-traffic periods, particularly during the designated Tatkal booking windows – 10 AM for AC classes and 11 AM for non-AC classes.
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