IRCTC

IRCTC, the official catering and tourism partner of Indian Railways, is one of the largest organizations of India. According to an official data, more than 6 lakhs e-tickets are booked on the IRCTC portal on a daily basis. To make things easier and more efficient, IRCTC gives license to its official partners to sell tickets. IRCTC, the subsidiary company of Indian Railways, offer agentship for rail ticket booking aligned with several terms and conditions. However, becoming an authorized rail agent isn’t easy. You need to know every intricate detail for becoming a railway ticketing agent. So, next time, if you’re on a journey munching tasty food in train; check your tickets whether it is booked from an authorized agent or not. Here’s everything one should know before applying for an authorized ticket agent.

Benefits of Becoming an IRCTC Agent
Do you know that people are constantly searching for “IRCTC find agent” and “railway ticket agent near me” on Google? The data is sufficient to convey that becoming an IRCTC agent is a profitable business. Some of the advantages are:

  • Agents are allowed to book unlimited number of IRCTC e-tickets.
  • Ticket agents are able to issue authorized tickets without fear of ticket cancellation.
  • IRCTC agents get ₹20 or ₹40 as commission per ticket booking.
  • The name of all agents can be seen on the official website at Find Agents – IRCTC.
  • An IRCTC ticket agent can earn a monthly income of upto Rs.80,000.
  • Tickets are booked faster because money is deducted from the IRCTC wallet.
  • The details of the travel agency are displayed on the ticket so there is a good promotion of business.

How is the IRCTC Agent ID Different from Personal ID?
The IRCTC ticket booking process differs for personal users and IRCTC ticket agents in many ways. The key differences are:

  1. Number of ticket bookings allowed:
    Personal users are allowed to book a maximum of 6 rail reservations (up to a maximum of 6 passengers per ticket) in one calendar month. On the other hand, there is no such limitation for IRCTC agents. IRCTC agents can book as many tickets in a day or month as they want.
  2. Subscription Fee:
    There is no joining or subscription fee on the IRCTC portal for personal users. You can create an account and start booking tickets for free. For agents though, they have to pay an annual fee to IRCTC. For the first year, there is an enrollment fee of ₹6999. After the first year, there is an annual subscription fee for IRCTC agents which are ₹2999 + GST.
  3. Documents Required:
    Before applying for IRCTC agent, know the list of all documents needed to become an agent – Aadhar Card, PAN Card, Mobile Number, Email id, and a recent color photo. To book tickets on IRCTC from a personal user Id, no such documents are required. Only personal data like name, mobile number, email id, gender, etc. is required to create an IRCTC account.
  4. Activation Process:
    After successful submission of registration form, you may want to know csc IRCTC agent activation process and time. IRCTC has made it clear on its website that after the full length verification done by officials, an IRCTC agent id is generated. First of all, the application and registration form is received along with subscription fees, then online KYC and video verification is done. After that, a unique IRCTC agent login certificate is generated and sent to the user. That is not the case with personal user id. The registration process is done after submission of application form and ticket bookings can be done instantly.

  5. Complementary services:
    IRCTC offers loads of other services apart from train ticket bookings. IRCTC agents get various complementary services of IRCTC like flight booking, bus booking, mobile/ DTH recharge, money transfer in banks, holiday package bookings, hotel booking, Dubai visa and many more. There are no such complementary services available to a personal user on IRCTC.
  6. Commissions:
    If you want to know the railway ticket booking agent commission, then we have an answer. The CSC IRCTC agent commission varies according to the class in which a ticket is booked. For Sleeper and 2S classes, ₹20 per PNR and for AC classes, ₹40 per PNR commission is given to IRCTC agents. For personal user id, no commission whatsoever is generated.

  7. Tatkal Booking Rules:
    There are different tatkal ticket booking rules for personal users and IRCTC agents. A total of only 4 tickets are allowed per PNR for a personal user id. Train ticket booking agents are barred from booking non-tatkal tickets from 10:00 AM to noon. They are allowed to book tatkal e-tickets after 15 minutes of general public opening time. Moreover, agents are restricted to book only one Tatkal ticket per train per day on the internet.

Recommended Read:How to Book Confirm Ticket after Charting Done

Prerequisites to Become a Railway Ticket Agent
Although anyone can become an official agent of IRCTC, there are some requirements to get an IRCTC license.

  1. You should have a valid credit/ debit card or net banking facility enabled bank account.
  2. You should have a terminal or computer or laptop to book tickets.
  3. You should have a printer to print the booked tickets.
  4. You should have a fairly high-speed internet connection.

How to Become an IRCTC Authorized Principal Service Provider?
To become an IRCTC agent is not a difficult task. IRCTC issues the business license through its key agents. Several websites are authorized to name authorized e-Ticketing agents. Upon positive registration, agents will be issued with a special login ID and portal to handle all forms of travel items such as train or bus reservations, domestic & international flight reservations, holiday packages, tours, money transfers etc. If you are looking for the agent interface application or the IRCTC agent login software, you can visit the official IRCTC agent interface page.

Steps to become an IRCTC Railway Ticket Agent:

  • Go to one of the many websites which are authorized by IRCTC to accept agent registration forms. The list of all the IRCTC authorized service providers is available here. You can see the irctc agent registration form download option there.
  • After you successfully fill up the form, you have to submit some supporting documents to get IRCTC agent login id which includes an attested copy of photo id such as Aadhar card, attested copy of address proof, latest colored photograph, and one demand draft of registration amount.
  • Now wait for the reply from their side. It can take upto 3 or 4 days.
  • After successful verification, you will get an IRCTC agent business licence to start your own travel business.

Recent Posts


Author: Rohit Choubey


Rohit is an avid guest blogger as well an eminent digital marketeer. He has immense passion towards food blogging. His hobbies include travelling, cooking and watching movies. He is the content analyst at RailRestro