Alert! IRCTC plans massive crackdown on illegal train ticket bookings; all you need to know

In a bid to prevent misuse of the IRCTCT next-generation e-ticketing website, the Railway Ministry is likely to set up a cyber crime cell.

The decision has been taken in a bid to prevent misuse of the IRCTC website. (Image: AFP)

New Delhi: In a bid to prevent misuse of the IRCTC (Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation) next-generation e-ticketing website, the Railway Ministry is likely to set up a cyber crime cell. “The Indian Railways may soon set up a cyber crime cell to prevent the misuse of the automation software on its ticket booking website,” news agency PTI quoted a ministry source as saying. The report also added that a six-member committee is being constituted to explore the feasibility of setting up such a cell in Indian Railways. The members include senior officials from various directorates including engineers from CRIS, signalling and telecom, computerization and information systems, vigilance officer as well as security officials. The dedicated committee will submit its report to the Ministry within a span of three months. “The committee has to basically prepare a blueprint for the board to set up the cyber crime cell. They have to recommend ways to induct persons with experience in handling such cases either on deputation or permanent absorbtion so as to eliminate scope of manipulation,” the news agency quoted the source as saying. “It also has to determine under which department the cell has to operate and the strength of staff and pay matrix,” the source added further. In 2018, Railways had asked the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to block as many as 19 websites over concerns of misuse of the automation software on IRCTC’s official website. The complaint came in the wake of the arrest of a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) staff member who was accused of running an unauthorised IRCTC ticket booking racking along with other travel agents. The report also stated that illegal software was used by the accused to simultaneously book over a thousand tickets through one portal. Further to control misuse in ticketing procedures, Railways Minister Piyush Goyal earlier this month informed that as many as 6,000 CCTV cameras are being installed at railway stations and several cyber crime cells are being made functional across the country.