If you book train tickets online in India, your IRCTC account is something you use all the time. Now, it is very important to link your Aadhaar with your IRCTC profile. While some may consider this just another formality, it is designed to make your account more secure and help avoid last-minute problems during booking or travel. If you have ever faced booking limits, verification prompts, or random errors, Aadhaar linking could have helped. Here, we will show you how to link your Aadhaar with your IRCTC account easily and without any hassle. You don’t need to be tech-savvy. Just keep your Aadhaar number and registered mobile phone with you. We will explain the entire process step-by-step so that you can do it in just a few minutes.
Why link your Aadhaar to your IRCTC account?
Linking your Aadhaar helps reduce misuse of the ticketing system by agents and brokers, making it easier for genuine passengers to get confirmed seats. Once your account is authenticated, IRCTC can better verify that you are a real person and not a bulk booking account. In some cases, like Tatkal and Premium Tatkal booking, these are reserved only for Aadhaar-verified users. This gives regular passengers a better chance to book tickets before they are sold out.
What do you need before you start?
Make sure you have an active IRCTC account and your user ID and password are ready.
Keep your Aadhaar card with you, which contains your 12-digit Aadhaar number or virtual ID.
Make sure your mobile number is linked to your Aadhaar so that you can receive OTP for verification.
How to link your Aadhaar with your IRCTC account?
First of all, you need to visit the official IRCTC website and log in using your registered user ID and password to access your account.
After logging in, click on the My Account tab to open your profile and account related options. From the available options, select Authenticate User or Link Your Aadhaar to start the Aadhaar linking process.
On the next page, enter your Aadhaar number or Virtual ID (VID) and carefully check that your name, date of birth and gender match your Aadhaar records, and make any necessary corrections.
After confirming the details, click on Verify details and receive OTP to request the one-time password on your Aadhaar-registered mobile number. Enter the OTP received on your phone in the provided field and click on Submit or Verify to proceed.
Finally, agree to the consent statement and submit the form to complete the process, after which your account will appear as authenticated with a green tick.
How to check whether your IRCTC account is authenticated or not?
Once you have linked your Aadhaar with your IRCTC account, you can easily check whether the process was successful or not.
After logging in, look at the top of the IRCTC website. If your account is authenticated, you’ll see a green tick next to your username and an Authenticated User option in the header.
You can also go to My Account and click on Authenticate User. This page will show your Aadhaar linking status and confirm whether your account is verified or not.
Make sure that the mobile number linked to your Aadhaar is active, as the OTP will be sent to that number. Also, check that your name, date of birth and gender in your IRCTC profile matches with your Aadhaar records, otherwise the verification may get rejected. After linking your Aadhaar, you can book tickets even during limited booking windows, such as morning Tatkal time, which is reserved for genuine users.