There are two modes of online booking available in Indian Railway website. They are I-Ticket and E-Ticket. I-Ticket I-Ticket can be purchased online but it is delivered at customer residential address in 2-3 times. I-Ticket need to be booked at least 2 days in advance. I-Tickets are issued for Waiting List, Confirmed and RAC cases. I-Tickets are always delivered at customer shipping address provided at the time of customer registration. For any reason if customer is unavailable to collect, then he can authorize another person to collect the ticket on this behalf. In this case customer is required to provide an authorization letter to the person who is collecting the ticket on this behalf. E-Ticket An e-ticket can be booked up to the time of chart preparation for your train. To book an e-ticket on Internet at Irctc Website you have to enter your ID proof details like PAN Card, Voter’s ID card, Passport, Ration Card, Central/State Govt. ID Card or Driving License. After booking just take a printout of the Electronic Reservation Slip and carry it during travel with the ID proof. For e-tickets while traveling you must carry the electronic reservation slip otherwise you will have to pay a fine of Rs. 50. E-tickets can be cancelled only through internet. Cancellation will be confirmed online and the money will be credited to the same back account. E-ticket - The user can take a printout of the Electronic Registration Slip (ERS) Online ticket Booking Rules 1. For normal I-Ticket, booking is allowed at least two clear calendar days in advance of journey date. 2. For e-Ticket, booking can be done up to chart Preparation approximately 4 to 6 hours before departure of train. For morning trains with departure time up to 12.00 hrs charts are prepared on the previous night. 3. Opening day booking (90th day in advance, excluding the date of journey) will be available only after 8 AM, along with the counters. I-Ticket and E-Ticket Advantages 1. Online Ticket Purchase cut is not only easy but it saves your money by cutting down the the role of middle men/ brokers/ agents 2. Forget about long queues in a station for booking tickets. Now customer can book tickets sitting peacefully in office or home on Irctc site on the Internet. 3. Now SMS Based Ticket purchase option is also in service where by customer can buy ticket using SMS service. Tatkal Reservation This facility facilitates confirmed/Waitlisted E-tickets to passengers on payment of premium on ‘first come first served’ basis in all mail/express trains including Rajadhani, Shatabdi, Jan Shatabdi Express trains. 1AC is not supported by Tatkalbookings You are not required to carry any identity proof either at the time of booking or during the journey, if you make reservation under tatkal scheme. There will be no separate Tatkal train defined. The unutilised Tatkal quota will get released to waitlisted passengers. In those trains and in those classes where average utilisation of Tatkal accommodation during peak period i.e. April to September is 80% and above, Tatkal charges applicabale during peak period will be charged throughout the year i.e. for both peak and non-peak periods.
I-Ticket or E-Ticket
For more details please click here http://www.irctc.co.in/iticketGuide.html
For more details please visit irctc.co.in/eticketsguide.html