IRCTC
Also known as: Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation, IRCTC Rail Connect
Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation — the official public-sector body that operates online train ticket booking, station catering, and rail tourism for Indian Railways.
IRCTC (Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation) is the public-sector unit established by the Government of India in 1999 to handle non-core Indian Railways services. In 2026 it remains the ONLY authorised platform that actually issues train tickets — every third-party booking app (MakeMyTrip, ixigo, Goibibo, ConfirmTkt, Paytm) routes its booking through IRCTC’s backend API and pays IRCTC a per-ticket fee.
IRCTC’s main product surfaces are: the IRCTC Rail Connect mobile app (the primary consumer interface), the IRCTC website at irctc.co.in, eCatering (food delivery to train PNRs), and IRCTC Tourism (rail-tour packages). The Rail Connect app supports reservation booking, Tatkal, PNR status, train running status, refund/TDR filing, and the iPay payment gateway.
For consumers, the practical takeaways are: (1) every aggregator’s ticket is actually an IRCTC ticket — the PNR comes from IRCTC, the cancellation rules are IRCTC’s, and the refund processes through IRCTC; (2) IRCTC’s convenience fee is the lowest available (₹15-30) because there is no middleman markup; (3) a verified IRCTC account with saved passenger profiles and the iPay gateway enabled is the single highest-leverage setup for any train booking — confirmed bookings, Tatkal, refunds, and TDR claims all run through it.