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Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation

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Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation
TypePublic
ISININE335Y01012
IndustryRailways
Founded27 September 1999;
27 years ago (1999-09-27)
Headquarters
New Delhi
,
India
Area served
India
Key peopleRahul Himalian[1]
(Chairman & MD)
ProductsRail Neer
Services
RevenueIncrease ₹52.15 billion (US$540 million) (2025-26)[2]
Increase ₹18.75 billion (US$190 million) (2025-26)[2]
Increase ₹13.93 billion (US$140 million) (2025-26)[2]
OwnerGovernment of India (62.4%)
Members70.6 million registered users[3] (August 2026)
Websitewww.irctc.co.in

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is an Indian public sector undertaking that provides ticketing, catering, and tourism services for the state-owned Indian Railways and as well as travel agency services. It was established in 1999 by the Government of India and operates under the administrative control of the Ministry of Railways. In 2019, IRCTC was listed on the National Stock Exchange and the Bombay Stock Exchange. The Indian government subsequently divested a further 5% of its shareholding in 2022 and, as of 2026, holds approximately 62.4% of the company's shares. As of August 2026, IRCTC has 70.6 million registered users, with an average of 1.56 million tickets booked each day.

History

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) was established on 27 September 1999, as a public sector undertaking wholly owned by the Government of India through the Indian Railways.[4] In May 2008, it was granted Miniratna status, giving it a certain degree of financial autonomy.[4] In 2018, then Railway Minister Piyush Goyal stated that the government was exploring opportunities for disinvestment of IRCTC.[5]

The company was listed on the National Stock Exchange and Bombay Stock Exchange in 2019, following which the Government of India's stake was reduced to 87%, with the remaining shares traded publicly.[6][7] In December 2020, the government divested a further 20% of its stake, reducing its holding to 67%.[8][9][10] In December 2022, the government divested a further 5%, reducing its ownership to 62.4%.[11] In March 2025, IRCTC was granted Navaratna status by the Government of India.[12]

Services

Ticketing and information

Online ticketing for Indian Railways was introduced through IRCTC on 3 August 2002. IRCTC offers ticket booking through its website, mobile applications, and SMS.[13] Electronic tickets (e-tickets) can be used for travel with a valid photo identification document and can only be cancelled online.[14][15] Internet tickets (I-tickets) are booked online and delivered as physical tickets by post.[14]

Reserved tickets may be booked up to 60 days in advance. Upon successful booking of a confirmed e-ticket, IRCTC issues a unique passenger name record (PNR) number along with the details of the passengers and the allocated berth or seat number(s). Unconfirmed bookings are assigned a wait-list (WL) number, with different categories based on the journey and passenger quota, including Roadside Station Waiting List (RSWL), Remote Location Waiting List (RLWL), Pooled Quota Waiting List (PQWL), and General Waiting List (GNWL). Wait-listed tickets may be confirmed following cancellations of already reserved tickets in the respective travel classes and are automatically cancelled if they remain unconfirmed before departure.[16]

Reservation Against Cancellation (RAC) is an intermediate status that allows passengers to board the train and share a berth with another passenger in the sleeper classes.[17] The Tatkal quota (TQ) allows short-notice bookings of a specific number of seats in select trains at higher fares a day before departure and has a separate Tatkal Waiting List (TQWL). Confirmed tatkal tickets are non-refundable on cancellation.[18]

In 2011, IRCTC launched the 'Shubh Yatra' loyalty programme offering discounts to frequent travelers for an annual subscription fee.[19] In 2012, IRCTC introduced the 'Rolling Deposit Scheme' (RDS), a closed-wallet system for booking tickets using preloaded funds.[20] In 2013, flight and hotel booking services were added.[21] In 2016, IRCTC launched a lighter version of its website to enable booking at low-speed internet connections.[22] On 7 August 2019, IRCTC launched the 'iMudha' payment wallet,[23][24] and introduced a smart-card system for purchasing unreserved tickets at stations or online on 11 August 2021.[25] It also provides train and ticketing information through SMS.[26]

A food plaza run by IRCTC

Catering and hospitality

IRCTC has exclusive rights for onboard catering of food on all trains operated by the Indian Railways. Pantry cars are attached to long and medium distance trains, where food may be prepared onboard or pre-cooked meals can be served depending on the type of the train and the accommodation class.[27] IRCTC also operates food plazas, cafeterias and refreshment rooms at various railway stations.[28] In 2014, IRCTC launched e-catering services which allowed passengers to order food from private restaurants online and have it delivered to their seats.[29] IRCTC also manages waiting lounges, retiring rooms and budget hotels at major railway stations.[30][31][32] IRCTC launched the 'Rail Neer' bottled water in 2003, which is sold on trains and railway stations.[33][34][35] During the 2025 Prayag Kumbh Mela, IRCTC offered tent accommodations to visitors.[36]

Train operations

Maharajas' Express, a luxury train operated by IRCTC

IRCTC operates luxury trains such as Maharajas' Express, Deccan Odyssey, and other special tourist trains.[37] These may include standard coaches, regular coaches with modifications and specially designed coaches with coupes, dedicated cabins and suites.[38]

IRCTC also operates a few express trains in co-ordination with Indian Railways.[39] In 2020, the IRCTC operated the first private train in India, the Lucknow–New Delhi Tejas Express.[40][41] It later started operating Ahmedabad–Mumbai Central Tejas Express and Kashi Mahakal Express.[42]

Travel and insurance

IRCTC also organizes package tours for domestic and foreign tourists.[43] It also serves as a travel agent and enables booking of various services including hotel, flight, taxi, and food delivery in co-ordination with third parties through the platform.[44]

IRCTC offers travel insurance to passengers for a nominal fee in collaboration with a third-party insurer. In 2018, a security researcher reported that the travel insurance scheme, which redirected users of the IRCTC app to a third-party insurer, had left the personal information of approximately 200,000 passengers exposed over a period of two years.[45][46] In response, IRCTC paused the scheme temporarily and fixed the vulnerability that had left this data exposed.[47]

Others

In May 2020, the IRCTC developed the Aarogya Setu mobile app to help the government track COVID-19 cases.[48] In May 2020, the app was made mandatory for train travel during the COVID-19 related restrictions.[49] Following a directive from the Karnataka High Court in June 2020, the government clarified that downloading the app was optional and not mandatory for train travel.[50]

As IRCTC enables various services in co-ordination with third parties, the user data is shared with various entities.[44] In 2016, Maharashtra Police reported a potential leak of personal information relating to 10 million users registered with IRCTC.[51] IRCTC set up a committee consisting of officials from the IRCTC and Centre for Railway Information Systems to examine the report and stated that data held by IRCTC was secure, while some data shared with third parties may have been leaked.[52][53][54][55] In 2018, IRCTC announced that it is exploring on ways to increase revenues through the utilization of passenger data.[56] This raised concerns on sharing and safety of passenger data stored with IRCTC.[57] In October 2020, passenger data of more than 0.9 million individuals surfaced in dark web although IRCTC denied that its systems had been breached.[58]

During the 2020–2021 Indian farmers' protests, IRCTC used the passenger email addresses provided during ticket bookings to send pamphlets promoting various government welfare schemes.[59] It was alleged that these emails were specifically targeted at Sikhs from Punjab, although IRCTC officials denied the allegation.[60][61]

Patronage

IRCTC's e-ticketing platform has continued to see substantial growth since its introduction with e-ticketing accounting for 89% of all reserved bookings of the Indian Railways in FY 2025–26, up 54% a decade ago.[62] As of August 2026, IRCTC has 70.6 million registered users, with a daily average of 1.56 million tickets booked.[3] On 6 March 2025, it recorded its highest-ever single-day booking volume of 1.62 million tickets, while on 12 March 2025 it processed 30,155 bookings in a single minute. As of 2024-25, mobile platforms contributed 53.8% of all e-tickets, with the IRCTC's 'Rail Connect' mobile app reaching 146.3 million downloads.[62]

References

  1. ↑ "Rahul Himalian takes additional charge as IRCTC CMD after Sanjay Kumar Jain's resignation". The Economic Times. 19 July 2026. Retrieved 1 August 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 IRCTC Annual Report 2025-26 (PDF) (Report). Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation. Retrieved 4 October 2026.
  3. 1 2 Marketing statistics (PDF) (Report). Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
  4. 1 2 "Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation Limited". Business Standard. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  5. ↑ "Indian Railways: Would you like railways to sell your personal data to a private company?". The Economic Times. 21 July 2018. Archived from the original on 27 August 2022. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  6. ↑ "IRCTC IPO off to a strong start, subscribed 81% amid strong demand from retail on Day 1". Moneycontrol. 30 September 2019. Archived from the original on 1 October 2019. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  7. ↑ Narayanan, KS Badri (3 October 2019). "With an oversubscription of 112 times, IRCTC's stock offer is a showstopper". Business Line. Archived from the original on 17 October 2019. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  8. ↑ "IRCTC Offer For Sale Successful, Government Prunes Stake By 20%". NDTV. 13 December 2020. Archived from the original on 20 December 2020. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  9. ↑ Kaur, Avneet (16 December 2020). "11% down in a week, IRCTC share to come down after OFS share allotment: Analysts". Mint. Archived from the original on 16 December 2020. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  10. ↑ "Centre launches IRCTC share offer to raise Rs 4,374 crore". The Indian Express. 11 December 2020. Archived from the original on 11 December 2020. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  11. ↑ "Govt to sell 5% of its holding in IRCTC; OFS begins today". The Hindu. 15 December 2022. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  12. ↑ "IRCTC, IRFC get 'navratna' status. What does it mean for the two railway PSUs?". Mint. 3 March 2025. Retrieved 14 March 2025.
  13. ↑ "E-Ticket Facility in Indian Railways". Press Trust of India (Press release). 27 July 2019. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  14. 1 2 "I-ticketing and E-ticketing" (PDF). Indian Railways. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
  15. ↑ Provision for carrying proof (PDF) (Report). Indian Railways. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  16. ↑ "What do WL, RSWL, PQWL, GNWL on train tickets mean? Know all about railway codes". Daily News and Analysis. Retrieved 27 April 2024.
  17. ↑ "Indian Railways Reservation Rules: 5 Things To Know About Waitlisted Tickets". NDTV. 30 May 2018. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  18. ↑ "Tatkal Ticket Booking: Charges, timings, cancellation and more". The Times of India. 2 March 2018. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  19. ↑ "IRCTC launches scheme for frequent travellers". The Times of India. 8 July 2011. ISSN 0971-8257. Archived from the original on 24 June 2023. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  20. ↑ "IRCTC to launch 'Rolling Deposit Scheme' for e-ticket". The Economic Times. 28 August 2012. Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  21. ↑ "IRCTC website gets 4x faster". Bihar Prabha. Archived from the original on 11 September 2013. Retrieved 31 August 2013.
  22. ↑ "IRCTC Lite Version For Tatkal Launched". Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation. 28 May 2016. Archived from the original on 6 August 2017. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
  23. ↑ "IRCTC iMudra payment wallet: Here's everything you need to know". Times Now. 6 August 2019. Archived from the original on 6 August 2019. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  24. ↑ "IRCTC launches iMudra wallet to provide you hassle-free payment experience". Zee Business. 7 August 2019. Archived from the original on 15 May 2021. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  25. ↑ "IRCTC Latest News: Now You Can Easily Recharge Smart Cards To Get Unreserved Train Tickets". India.com. 11 August 2021. Archived from the original on 20 August 2021. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  26. ↑ "Now get SMS delay alerts at halt stations; service extended to 1,104 more trains". The Economic Times. 3 June 2018. Archived from the original on 10 April 2018. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  27. ↑ Pantry car equipment (PDF) (Report). Indian Railways. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  28. ↑ "IRCTC orders closure of all onboard catering services in mail, express trains from Mar 22". The Economic Times. Archived from the original on 12 August 2021. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  29. ↑ "IRCTC to resume e-catering services in phases from February". Hindustan Times. 22 January 2021. Archived from the original on 12 August 2021. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  30. ↑ G, Jasjeev (26 February 2018). "New Delhi Railway station: Luxury at railway station you may not know of". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 30 August 2021. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  31. ↑ "Rly give permission to zonal divisions to decide on reopening of retiring rooms". Mint. 3 March 2021. Archived from the original on 30 August 2021. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  32. ↑ "IRCTC Railway Retiring Room Booking Online". Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation. 7 March 2023. Archived from the original on 9 March 2023. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
  33. ↑ Arora, Rajat (23 May 2018). "Rail Neer: Railways may put Rs 1k crore into 11 new Rail Neer bottling units". The Economic Times. Archived from the original on 20 August 2021. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  34. ↑ "Can Rail Neer Be The Ace In The Pack For IRCTC As It Navigates Coronavirus Turbulence?". Moneycontrol. Archived from the original on 20 August 2021. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  35. ↑ "Railways' bottled water plant goes on stream". The Times of India. 6 May 2003. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  36. ↑ "IRCTC ensures facilities for Mahakumbh Mela 2025, luxury tent city open for bookings". The Economic Times. 24 December 2024. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 4 January 2025.
  37. ↑ "Great Rail Journeys". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
  38. ↑ "About us, Golden chariot". Indian Railways. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  39. ↑ Ramachandran, L. L.; Radhakrishan Pillai, R.; Sebastian, M. P. (2018). Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited (IRCTC): Scaling Beyond Ticketing. Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode. doi:10.4135/9781529709032. ISBN 978-1-5297-0903-2.
  40. ↑ "IRCTC's 'private' Tejas Express to resume services from October 17". The Indian Express. 7 October 2020. Archived from the original on 24 October 2020. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  41. ↑ "Railways' first private train sees strong bookings. Delhi-Lucknow Tejas features". Mint. 23 September 2019. Archived from the original on 24 September 2019. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  42. ↑ Saluja, Nishtha. "Tejas Express: Railways Minister Piyush Goyal to flag off India's second private train on Friday". The Economic Times. Archived from the original on 21 May 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
  43. ↑ "5 most luxurious trains in India". India Today. Archived from the original on 11 February 2023. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
  44. 1 2 "Leaked data is not ours, claims IRCTC". Governance Now. 6 May 2016. Archived from the original on 25 September 2020. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  45. ↑ "Did IRCTC bug leave 2 lakh passengers' information exposed to hackers for 2 years?". Business Today. 12 November 2018. Archived from the original on 21 June 2021. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  46. ↑ "How a free travel insurance offer on the Indian Railways website left data of 200,000 passengers exposed to hackers for two years". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 24 May 2022. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  47. ↑ Christopher, Nilesh. "IRCTC wakes up after 2 years to fix its security bug". The Economic Times. Archived from the original on 13 May 2019. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  48. ↑ "Amid data privacy issues Indian Railways makes Aarogya Setu mandatory for passengers". The Statesman. 12 May 2020. Archived from the original on 29 September 2020. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  49. ↑ "Indian Railways makes Aarogya Setu app mandatory for train travel". The Times of India. 12 May 2020. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  50. ↑ Plumber, Mustafa (12 June 2020). "Aargoya Setu Installation Not Mandatory For Travel By Air, Rail: Centre Tells Karnataka HC". Livelaw. Archived from the original on 1 December 2020. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  51. ↑ Mehta, Manthank (5 May 2016). "IRCTC website hacked, information of lakhs feared stolen". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 13 August 2022. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  52. ↑ "IRCTC denies data theft reports, sets up probe panel". The Indian Express. 6 May 2016. Archived from the original on 8 November 2020. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  53. ↑ "IRCTC Data Not Leaked, Everything Safe: Officials". NDTV. Archived from the original on 25 August 2019. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  54. ↑ "IRCTC hacking: Railways claims no leakage of 'sensitive' data". The Hindu. 5 May 2016. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  55. ↑ "IRCTC denies website hack, says everything is safe and secure". The Economic Times. Archived from the original on 4 October 2022. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  56. ↑ "IRCTC may let outside entities access your data now". The New Indian Express. 4 October 2018. Archived from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  57. ↑ "Threat to privacy: Is your data with IRCTC safe? Former railway minister Dinesh Trivedi has this to say". The Financial Express. 8 August 2018. Archived from the original on 8 August 2018. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  58. ↑ "User data of more than 900,000 leaked from IRCTC last year, resurfaces on dark web". Hindustan Times. 16 October 2020. Archived from the original on 13 January 2021. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  59. ↑ "Amid protest, Centre reaches out to Sikhs by email through IRCTC". The Times of India. 14 December 2023. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  60. ↑ "IRCTC sends out nearly 2 crore emails in 5 days highlighting Modi's relationship with Sikh community". The Indian Express. 13 December 2020. Archived from the original on 14 December 2020. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  61. ↑ "IRCTC sends nearly 2 crore emails in 5 days flagging Narendra Modi's relationship with Sikhs". The Hindu. PTI. 13 December 2020. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 14 December 2020. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  62. 1 2 "E-ticketing touches 89% in FY26 as Indian Railways expands digital services". The Economic Times. 20 November 2025. Retrieved 1 June 2026.
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