The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has slammed the Indian Railways for irregularities in train reservations, leaving costly new lines idle, and making a mess of 50 new projects in which more than Rs 8,500 crore have been spent but there is no hope of early completion. In its compliance audit report for 2010-11, CAG has found that the Tatkal system, in which some seats are kept aside for booking a few days before the journey, was susceptible to abuse by booking agents and the booking systems were inadequate, "leaving scope for manual intervention". The irregularities included booking of tickets before and beyond business hours and booking of all Tatkal quota tickets within few minutes of the opening of reservation. "Further, test check of the accessibility of the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism server revealed that during login at the website exactly at 8 am on the day of booking for...
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Tatkal or general tickets, the system would hang," the report said. Another important finding is on the construction of new lines on socio-economic considerations which were sanctioned 10 years ago. The report reveals that the 50 projects are still incomplete with Rs 8,549 crore having been spent with no certainty of their completion in the foreseeable future.

Wondered why tickets under the tatkal scheme proved to be elusive just when you wanted to make that journey on India Railways during an emergency? The official auditor has a simple answer : Manipulation.
In a report on Indian Railways tabled in parliament on Friday, the Comptroller and Auditor General (( CAG)) said its study on tatkal and advance reservation system had some very startling revelations, including manipulation and irregularities.
"It revealed that genuine users, for whom the scheme was introduced were not able to access the facility with ease as it...
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was susceptible to manipulation," said the report, holding booking clerks responsible along with agents and touts.
"There were irregularities such as booking of tickets before and beyond business hours and booking of all tatkal quota tickets within just a few minutes of the opening of reservation," the report noted.
"Further, test check of the accessibility of the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corp server revealed that during login at the web site exactly at 8 a.m. on the day of booking for tatkal or general tickets, the system would hang," it said.
"It took 4-5 minutes to login, by which time tatkal quota was sold out."
It also said the general application and controls in the reservation and also internet booking systems were inadequate, which again left scope for manual intervention in the network, that further aided the manipulation.
The advance reservation period fixed for tatkal tickets was five days, excluding the date of journey, which was revised to two days. These tickets can be booked between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. on week days and between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. on holidays.

Although the news is already posted as:/news/post/32932
but i want share the very good initiative taken by SEE Div of ECR for the check of malpractices in booking of Tatkal and Other tickets at PRS:
अब यात्रियों का मोबाइल नंबर भी होगा कम्प्यूटर में फीड- आज से आरक्षण कार्यालय में नई व्यवस्था लागू
आरक्षण टिकट के लिए टोकन सिस्टम का झंझट अब खत्म।...
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रेलवे प्रशासन टिकट दलाली पर अंकुश के लिए नई फुल प्रूफ व्यवस्था शनिवार से लागू करने जा रही है। इस व्यवस्था के तहत यात्रियों को अब परिचय पत्र की कॉपी देने पर ट्रेनों के आरक्षित टिकट मिलेंगे। साथ ही यात्रियों को मांग पत्र पर अब मोबाइल नंबर देना अनिवार्य कर दिया गया है। मांग पत्र पर मोबाइल नंबर नहीं देने पर टिकट नहीं मिलेगा। वह मोबाइल नंबर कम्प्यूटर के सिस्टम में फीड किया जाएगा। अब एक यात्री को एक ही टिकट भी मिलेगा। वहीं हरेक दिन एक ही चेहरा मिलने पर उस पर कानूनी कार्रवाई की जाएगी।
सोनपुर मंडल की वरिष्ठ वाणिज्य प्रबंधक शिखा श्रीवास्तव ने बताया कि मुख्य वाणिज्य निरीक्षक नरेन्द्र कुमार को आरक्षण काउंटरों पर नई व्यवस्था लागू करने का आदेश दिया गया है। उन्होंने बताया कि यात्रियों की पहचान के साथ-साथ बेहतर सुविधा उपलब्ध कराने के उद्देश्य से मांग पत्र के साथ परिचय पत्र की फोटो कॉपी अनिवार्य किया गया है। इससे टिकट दलाली पर अंकुश लग सकेगा। उन्होंने कहा कि काउंटरों पर कार्यरत कर्मचारियों की गड़बड़ी पकड़े जाने पर उन पर भी सख्त विभागीय कार्रवाई की जाएगी।
ये पहचान पत्र लगाएं:ड्राइविंग लाइसेंस, पैन कार्ड, बैंक पासबुक, राशन कार्ड, वोटर आइडी कार्ड, स्कूल का परिचय पत्र आदि।