The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is an Indian public sector undertaking (PSU) and a Mini Ratna (Category-I) Central Public Sector Enterprise operating under the administrative control of the Ministry of Railways. It was incorporated as a public limited company under the Companies Act, 1956, and established on September 27, 1999. The corporation was created to professionalize and upgrade the catering and hospitality services provided on trains and at stations, and to promote domestic and international tourism.
IRCTC functions as the sole entity authorized by Indian Railways to manage online ticketing, catering, and packaged drinking water services. Its core mechanism is the internet ticketing division, which pioneered online rail ticket booking starting on August 3, 2002. The online system interfaces with the Passenger Reservation System (PRS), which is developed by the Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS). The corporation also manages catering services, operates food plazas, and produces the packaged drinking water brand Rail Neer.
The institution connects directly to the financial markets, having been listed on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) since 2019, though the Government of India retains a majority shareholding.
Recently, significant changes have been implemented to enhance security and transparency. Effective July 2025, mandatory Aadhaar authentication was introduced for Tatkal bookings made online. Furthermore, the time for preparing the final reservation chart was changed from 4 hours to 8 hours before the train's scheduled departure. A new rule, effective January 12, 2026, mandates that only Aadhaar-verified users can book general reserved tickets on the first day of the Advance Reservation Period. New refund rules were also announced in 2026, including a 25% deduction for confirmed tickets cancelled between 24 and 72 hours before departure.