Aadhaar authentication required for Tatkal train ticketing system does not violate the Right to Privacy of a user, said Kerala High Court on Thursday. 

The Division Bench of Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice V.M. Syam Kumar was considering a public interest litigation challenging the requirement of Aadhaar-based OTP authentication in the Tatkal ticketing system introduced by the Ministry of Railways.

The court observed that the authentication is optional and there is no compulsion to share the Aadhaar details for ticket purchases online through the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation website. It noted that the requirement for authentication for Tatkal tickets was justified based on experiences of alleged deceit, manipulation and bulk booking, which denied access to the ticketing system for genuine users. 

Bulk booking

The Ministry of Railways, Centre for Railway Information System, and IRCTC filed their statements, which explained that the rationale behind the policy is to ensure that only genuine individual users can access the Tatkal booking system. The provision is intended to prevent the bulk booking of tickets by touts, syndicates, and automated software. 

It was further reported that the Aadhaar-based authentication operates strictly within the statutory framework of the Aadhaar Act, 2016, and the corresponding regulations. Authentication is carried out only with the informed consent of the user, through encrypted communication channels, and with data minimisation principles. The requesting entity does not have access to the Aadhaar database, and UIDAI maintains strict regulatory control, audits, and security safeguards. Further, only the IRCTC user needs to be authenticated, not all of the passengers in the booking. It was clarified that the verification was a one-time process performed by the person and that it was not required for every booking.

The court held that, in light of the information provided by the authorities concerned, there was no violation of privacy rights in the Aadhaar authentication requirement for Tatkal ticketing. The court suggested that the PAN card could be alternatively used for such verification, since there is OTP generation linked to PAN details and it would produce similar results to Aadhaar verification.