IRCTC Responds After Users Complain About Tatkal Booking Crash And Payment Failures

Hardly an institution in India can be as gigantic, complex, and integral to life as Indian Railways. Commonly referred to as the lifeline of India, it joins far-flung villages to big metros and helps drive the economic machine of the nation by ferrying goods. But the advent of IRCTC has brought about a radical transformation in rail operations in India. What once involved long queues at ticket booking counters can nowadays be done via websites and applications.

The sheer volume of bookings creates immense competition during the booking window, with many users rushing to log in moments before the booking time starts in the hope of getting seats. However, there have been many instances in the past when IRCTC has witnessed some technical failures and glitches. Recently, several reports emerged in the news that many users had faced problems with the IRCTC website and mobile application. Now, IRCTC has also reacted to the reports.

Users complain about facing glitches and payment failures in IRCTC’s website and phone app

Recently, during one morning, something that was supposed to be just a normal transaction went into chaos, as there were some issues with the computer that caused them not to book their tickets.

As the Tatkal window opened for non-AC tickets at 11 am, users trying to book the tickets faced several problems. Rather than an easy and hassle-free experience, they experienced buffering and crashes almost everywhere throughout the process of making a booking.

Users also had problems with the payment of their money without booking any tickets. The message ‘Not Found’ kept appearing on the site, and in most cases, the tickets were marked ‘REGRET’ shortly after opening the window, signifying complete booking.

Aggrieved travelers vented their frustrations through the social media site X (previously known as Twitter). For instance, one traveler described their experience, stating that although they logged in well before 11 am and made sure to start booking exactly when the window opened, buffering and slow payment processing meant they ended up not booking any tickets, despite paying the amount.

Have a look at some of the complaints:

This is unacceptable.

Tried booking a Tatkal ticket (New Delhi → Kanpur, Prayagraj Express, Sleeper):

>Logged in before 11 AM

>Started booking exactly at 11:00 AM

>Continuous buffering at every step

>Payment processed after long delay

End result: Ticket NOT booked, but…

— खुचरेंप (@khuchrep) April 17, 2026

RailOne app glitch during Tatkal, showing “Not Found” even when seats are available.

Happening for the past few days.
Earlier, it was flawless. Now, it’s frustrating.

Please fix it @AshwiniVaishnaw @amofficialCRIS @RailMinIndia pic.twitter.com/xGTGRG3B0h

— Trains of India 🇮🇳 (@trainwalebhaiya) April 15, 2026

If You can’t provide good services for the booking of tickets under tatkal quota just close the window permanently it is the nth time I am facing these issue Just close it permanently for god Sake @IRCTCofficial @IRCTCinfo pic.twitter.com/2xK8O2XaNE

— Sahil Phatak (@Phataksahil22) April 17, 2026

RailOne to IRCTC Website during Tatkal everytime same issue & after 2-3 min it’s showing all tickets in REGRET.

A #Scam going on nothing else. Common passengers only suffers, Railway staff’s & Officials easily getting EQs they never understood this.@RailMinIndia @RailwaySeva https://t.co/2YYzun6fuA pic.twitter.com/0xtA0B3uEJ

— Ansuman Satapathy (@TechAnsuman) April 17, 2026

Same issue with irctc website using laptop. At 10:00 itself I reach payments page, after that screen freezes for 2 minutes and then I get waitlisted 😕
Clearly it’s an issue from irctc server/code @IRCTCofficial pic.twitter.com/0nIfpr6mxt

— HIMANSHU (@himanshu4u_2015) April 18, 2026

How did IRCTC react to these complaints?

In response to the complaints, IRCTC said it was a “temporary problem.” The organization urged customers to undertake the usual troubleshooting procedures, like signing out of the app, refreshing the app, clearing the app’s cache, uninstalling and reinstalling the app, changing from Wi-Fi to mobile internet, and using the latest version of the app.

If the problems persisted, IRCTC suggested that users register their complaints with the technical details about their devices, IP address, and when the error occurred.

Here’s what IRCTC tweeted:

This being a temporary issue, user may please try logging out and force closing the application, then restart it. Additionally, ensure to use the latest version of the app. Connection issues may arise due to various factors such as network, service, device connectivity, etc. We…

— IRCTC (@IRCTCofficial) April 17, 2026

Although IRCTC has revolutionized the process of booking railway tickets through the internet, frequent technical issues during the high-demand period of Tatkal bookings have brought into question the capability of this platform to cope with large amounts of traffic. In a system that is depended upon by millions of people, such interruptions pose a serious problem.

What do you think about this? Do share your thoughts with us in the comment section of this article.