Indian Railways Uses AI-Powered Bot Mitigation To Deactivate 2.5 Crore Suspicious User IDs
On May 22, the highest-ever per-minute booking of 31,814 tickets took place.
Indian Railways has undertaken a comprehensive digital overhaul of its ticketing infrastructure, according to a press release from the Ministry of Railways on Wednesday.
Through the deployment of cutting-edge anti-BOT systems and integration with a leading content delivery network service provider, the Railways has significantly curbed unauthorised automated bookings by unscrupulous agents and improved the access of the web site to the genuine users.
The new system has effectively mitigated all bot traffic, which peaks during the first five minutes of Tatkal. Bot traffic accounts for up to 50% of overall login attempts during this period.
This enhancement ensures better accessibility for genuine users and resulted in 2.5 crore suspected user IDs being deactivated for booking tickets. On May 22, the highest-ever per-minute booking of 31,814 tickets took place.
To further enhance fairness and efficiency, new user protocols have been introduced. Users not authenticated via Aadhaar can book Opening ARP, Tatkal or Premium Tatkal tickets only after three days of registration, while Aadhaar-verified users can book tickets without delay.
These efforts have delivered measurable improvements, according to the release. The average daily user logins increased from 69.08 lakh in Fiscal 2023–24 to 82.57 lakh in Fiscal 2024–25, registering a 19.53% rise, while average daily ticket bookings grew by 11.85% in the same period. Additionally, e-Ticketing now accounts for 86.38% of total reserved ticket bookings.
Systemic upgrades include:
87% of static content being served via CDN for faster load times and reduced server load.
Active detection and mitigation of bot traffic using sophisticated AI algorithms.
Proactive deactivation of suspicious user IDs and complaint lodging via the Cyber Crime Portal.
"Continuous innovation and modernisation will remain central to ensuring equitable access and safeguarding the interests of millions of passengers across the country," the Railway Ministry said in its release.
