Delhi High Court Seeks Centre's Stand On PIL For Independent Audit Of IRCTC Reservation System

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought stand of the Central Government on a PIL seeking an independent and technically competent audit of the Indian Railways' IRCTC passenger reservation ecosystem, including its online booking platforms, amid allegations of recurring technical failures and payment deductions without ticket generation.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia asked the counsel appearing for the Union of India to take instructions in the matter.

The counsel has also been directed to contact the counsel for IRCTC and Centre for Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation which may instructed Centre's counsel for assisting the Court.

The matter is listed on next Wednesday.

The petition, filed by advocate Uttam Kumar, seeks directions to ensure that the reservation system operates in a fair, transparent, reliable, accessible, non-discriminatory and accountable manner.

Kumar has clarified that the PIL does not seek allotment of any particular ticket, berth or quota, nor does it challenge the legitimate limitation arising from finite railway accommodation.

The plea raises the question whether genuine passengers are afforded a meaningful and reasonably equal opportunity to participate in the reservation process when tickets become available.

According to the petition, passengers have reported difficulties including failure to access the booking system, login and authentication problems, termination of booking sessions, payment failures, transaction uncertainty, disappearance or rapid exhaustion of displayed availability and inability to complete reservations.

The plea states that the relevant records—including booking and server logs, authentication records, payment-gateway data, transaction and ticket-generation records, availability data, cancellation records, quota-allocation records and refund data—are substantially within the respondents' possession and can objectively establish the nature and extent of any systemic deficiencies.

The PIL seeks examination of safeguards against bots, automated scripts, bulk-booking tools, unauthorised software, misuse of credentials and multiple-account manipulation.

It further raises concerns regarding passengers whose accounts are debited but whose tickets are not generated. It seeks an immediate, clear and time-bound mechanism for determining transaction status and refunding or reversing amounts legally refundable, particularly where the passenger may lose the opportunity to secure another ticket while awaiting resolution of the failed transaction.

Kumar has also sought greater transparency in RAC and waitlist allocation, including the allotment of vacant berths arising from cancellations or non-utilisation, so that such accommodation is allotted according to applicable rules and priority sequences without undisclosed intervention.

Kumar has sought a direction to ensure fair and non-discriminatory access to available railway accommodation and to prevent any unfair advantage arising from agents, bots, automated or bulk booking, misuse of credentials or unauthorised means.