Tatkal Time Calculator

When Does Tatkal Booking Open? AC at 10 AM, Sleeper and 2S at 11 AM

Tatkal opens one day before the train departs from its originating station, excluding the date of journey. The hour depends only on your class: 10:00 AM for AC classes and 11:00 AM for non-AC classes. If a train leaves its origin on 2 August, AC Tatkal opens at 10:00 AM on 1 August and non-AC Tatkal at 11:00 AM on 1 August.

First Class (FC) is a non-AC class despite the name, so it opens at 11:00 AM, not 10:00 AM. That single detail catches out a lot of people. Executive Class (EC) does carry a Tatkal quota, despite a stale line in IRCTC's Tatkal FAQ saying otherwise — see the earmarking table below.

The Mistake Almost Everyone Makes

Tatkal is counted from the train's origin, never from your boarding station. Of the 5,924 trains whose schedules we hold, 4,627 run across two or more days — so for roughly three trains in four, the day the train starts and the day it reaches your station are different dates.

Say a train leaves Delhi on 10 August and reaches Nagpur at 4 AM on 11 August. If you board at Nagpur, your Tatkal window opens on 9 August, not 10 August. Count back from the boarding date and you arrive a full day late — by which time the quota is long gone. The day selector above exists precisely for this case.

What a Tatkal Ticket Costs Extra

The Tatkal charge is levied per passenger on top of the normal fare: 10% of the basic fare for Second Sitting and 30% of the basic fare for every other class, subject to a floor and a ceiling.

No concession of any kind is allowed on a Tatkal ticket, and the ladies and general quotas cannot be combined with it. The charge is reckoned over the minimum distance shown even on a shorter hop. First Class (FC) does not appear in the published charge table. Figures are the Railway Board schedule in force since 24 December 2015.

How Many Tatkal Seats Actually Exist

Zonal railways decide how much of each train to earmark for Tatkal, based on how that class performed the previous year. The Railway Board sets the ceiling they cannot exceed:

This is the ceiling, not a guarantee — the actual figure is set per train, and for some trains, classes or locations there is no Tatkal quota at all. Executive Class is the answer to a common confusion: IRCTC's Tatkal FAQ still says Tatkal is allowed "in all classes except First AC and Executive class", but the same FAQ lists EC among the 10:00 AM classes and prices it in the charge table, and indianrail.gov.in states plainly that Tatkal is available in Executive Class of Shatabdi trains at 10% of the accommodation. Treat the exclusion line as stale — but note that five seats a coach clears very fast.

Aadhaar and OTP Are Now Mandatory

Since 15 July 2025, Tatkal bookings require Aadhaar-based OTP authentication, and the IRCTC account you book from must be Aadhaar-linked. The rule covers every channel — the IRCTC website and app, computerised PRS counters and authorised agents. Get the linking done days in advance; the OTP step runs during booking, when you have seconds to spare, not minutes.

Authorised agents are also barred from booking opening-day Tatkal tickets for the first 30 minutes — 10:00 to 10:30 AM for AC and 11:00 to 11:30 AM for non-AC. That half hour is the best chance an ordinary passenger gets, which is why being logged in and ready at the exact minute matters.

Be Ready Before the Window Opens

• Save your passengers to the IRCTC Master List in advance — typing names at 10:00:00 loses the seat.
• Confirm your account is Aadhaar-verified and your registered mobile can receive the OTP.
• Keep a UPI or wallet payment ready; card OTPs are the slowest step at the till.
• Remember the cap: four passengers per PNR, and no concessions.
• Tatkal tickets are issued for the actual distance travelled, not end to end.

Tatkal and Refunds

A confirmed Tatkal ticket carries no refund, however early you cancel it. Tatkal tickets still on RAC or the waiting list are refunded under the ordinary rules — fare less ₹60 clerkage per passenger — and must be cancelled at least 30 minutes before departure. Work the exact figure out in the refund calculator.