CAG slams Indian Railways for irregularities in train reservations, Tatkal system

NEW DELHI: The Comptroller and Auditor General ( CAG) has slammed the Indian Railways for irregularities in train reservations, leaving costly new lines idle, and making a mess of 50 new projects in which more than Rs 8,500 crore have been spent but there is no hope of early completion.

In its compliance audit report for 2010-11, CAG has found that the Tatkal system, in which some seats are kept aside for booking a few days before the journey, was susceptible to abuse by booking agents and the booking systems were inadequate, “leaving scope for manual intervention”.

The irregularities included booking of tickets before and beyond business hours and booking of all Tatkal quota tickets within few minutes of the opening of reservation.

“Further, test check of the accessibility of the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism server revealed that during login at the website exactly at 8 am on the day of booking for Tatkal or general tickets, the system would hang,” the report said.

Another important finding is on the construction of new lines on socio-economic considerations which were sanctioned 10 years ago. The report reveals that the 50 projects are still incomplete with Rs 8,549 crore having been spent with no certainty of their completion in the foreseeable future.