The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd. faced technical outage on Thursday, leaving numerous passengers unable to book tickets on its official website and mobile application. The disruption coincided with the busy holiday season, amplifying frustration among travelers, especially those attempting to book Tatkal tickets.
The stock was down by 1.25% amid outage chaos. The issue was later resolved and booking of tickets was happening seamlessly.
A significant spike in user complaints was observed on Downdetector, a platform that tracks online outages, as many passengers took to social media to express their frustration. The outage, which occurred during peak booking hours, primarily affected Tatkal ticket bookings, a service that allows passengers to book tickets at short notice, typically a day before travel.
On social media platform X (formerly Twitter), "Tatkal" quickly trended as users tagged the Ministry of Railways and Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in their complaints. One user, Prabhat Kumar, expressed frustration, tweeting, “Dear @IRCTCofficial, We get it—holiday season, lots of people, blah blah. But what's with the Tatkal booking circus? If you're pocketing a 'convenience fee' that's practically the cost of running an AWS server, maybe try actually using it to scale up your infrastructure.”
Dear @IRCTCofficial ,
We get it—holiday season, lots of people, blah blah. But what's with the Tatkal booking circus? If you're pocketing a “convenience fee” that's practically the cost of running an AWS server, maybe try actually using it to scale up your infrastructure. pic.twitter.com/CsQl5iaiZ0Another passenger, Archana Upadhyay, vented, “Maintenance during peak production hours at 10:26 AM IST. @AshwiniVaishnaw @RailMinIndia, firstly it's like climbing Everest to book a Tatkal ticket, and on top of it, THE MAINTENANCE. #Comedy #IndianRailways.”
The technical glitch also seemed to have impacted IRCTC's stock, which dropped by 1.25% in response to the outage. The IRCTC e-ticketing platform, a vital component of India's railway system, has been under increasing scrutiny due to recurring technical failures. The company has yet to issue an official statement regarding the outage, leaving passengers and investors alike concerned about the platform's reliability.
Tatkal bookings for AC classes typically begin at 10:00 AM IST, while non-AC class bookings start at 11:00 AM IST. These narrow windows, combined with high demand, have made Tatkal bookings notoriously difficult.
The scrip fell as much as 1.25% to Rs 778.95 apiece. It pared losses to trade 1.09% lower at Rs 780 apiece, as of 11:04 a.m. This compares to a flat NSE Nifty 50 Index.
It has fallen 10.30% in the last 12 months. Total traded volume so far in the day stood at 0.24 times its 30-day average. The relative strength index was at 34.
Out of nine analysts tracking the company, four maintain a 'buy' rating, two recommend a 'hold,' and three suggest 'sell,' according to Bloomberg data. The average 12-month consensus price target implies an upside of 7.6%.
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