A PIL alleging booking failures, payment deductions without ticket generation and vanishing availability on the railway reservation platform has drawn a request from the Delhi High Court to the Centre to state its position on a proposed independent technical audit.
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday, September 30, sought the stand of the Central Government on a public interest litigation 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 [Uttam Kumar v. Union of India and Others].
A Division Bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia asked the counsel for the Union of India to take instructions. Counsel was also directed to contact the counsel for IRCTC and the Centre for Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation, who may instruct the Centre’s counsel to assist the Court. The matter is listed on Wednesday, October 7. The Court has made no finding on the allegations.
What the petition seeks
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 clarifies that the PIL does not seek allotment of any particular ticket, berth or quota and does not challenge the legitimate limits arising from finite railway accommodation. It asks whether genuine passengers get a meaningful and reasonably equal opportunity to take part 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. It states that the relevant records, including booking and server logs, authentication records, payment-gateway data, transaction and ticket-generation records, availability data, cancellation and quota-allocation records and refund data, are substantially within the respondents’ possession and can objectively establish the nature and extent of any systemic deficiencies.
Specific concerns raised
The PIL seeks examination of safeguards against bots, automated scripts, bulk-booking tools, unauthorised software, misuse of credentials and multiple-account manipulation, and a direction to ensure fair access and to prevent unfair advantage to agents or unauthorised means.
It also raises concerns about passengers whose accounts are debited but whose tickets are not generated, and seeks an immediate, clear and time-bound mechanism for determining transaction status and refunding or reversing amounts that are legally refundable, particularly where the passenger may lose the chance to book another ticket while the failed transaction is being resolved. Kumar further seeks greater transparency in RAC and waitlist allocation, including the allotment of vacant berths arising from cancellations or non-utilisation, so that accommodation is allotted under the applicable rules and priority sequences without undisclosed intervention.
Case Title: Uttam Kumar v. Union of India and Others
Bench: Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia, Delhi High Court
Date of Order: September 30, 2026