IRCTC booking scam exposed; here

IRCTC’s online Tatkal booking system has often been in the media for its flaws. Most users have never been able to secure a confirmed birth using the online portal. CBI exposed a scam that explains why you can never book the Tatkal rail quota through IRCTC website.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested the assistant programmer of CBI who developed an illicit software to penetrate the IRCTC booking system. Ajay Garg, who joined CBI in 2012 developed a software called Neo which helped him book 800-1000 tickets at one go, which were later distributed in a racket of agents to sell at higher prices. CBI has declared that Garg and his racket of agents have been running this scam for the past one year.

The incident came into the picture after Indian Railways started observing a surge in tickets sold by agents. Garg and his agents would book 800-1000 Tatkal tickets in one go and later sell them via the racket of agents. Passengers looking to book Tatkal tickets usually reach out to the travel agents after their failed attempt at booking these tickets online. 

These agents quote a premium price to the passengers. The travel agent then approaches Garg and his racket to further book the required number of berths via a fake website. These travel agents charge anywhere between Rs 50 to Rs 5,000 per ticket as a commission from the passengers for the confirmed ticket. 

Garg was easily able to penetrate the system as he has been involved in the development of IRCTC portal from 2007. He has full working knowledge of all the functioning of the IRCTC website, including the loopholes and vulnerabilities of the portal. The software called Neo that he developed helped him loop the Indian Railway and passengers.

The Central Bureau of Investigation has booked Garg and his associates on allegations of criminal conspiracy, gaining unauthorized access and damage to the computer system and running the unauthorized business of procuring and supplying railway tickets and criminal misconduct. Garg has also made illegal wealth by distributing the said software among railway ticket agents and travel operators.

In an official statement, CBI said, “Raids in 14 places including Delhi, Mumbai and Jaunpur have led to the recovery of almost Rs 89.42 lakh in cash, gold jewelry estimated at Rs 61.29 lakh including two gold bars weighing 1kg each, 15 laptops among other equipment.” The report also reveals that Garg used cryptocurrency like bitcoin and hawala network to receive the money.

Since the CBI has zero tolerance towards corruption, the filed case is in line with CBI directors’ policy. Ajay Garg and other accused have been produced before the court, which has summoned the police custody to the accused till January 5.

– Rajat Kabade

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