Indian Railway Tatkal Scam Grows Bigger, Man Behind Instant Ticketing Software Arrested: Everything You Need To Know

New Delhi: The man behind developing Tatkal Turbo software which exploited Indian Railway tatkal website to book a sure shot ticket is now behind the bars. Satyanarayana Miryala was arrested by Central Railway’s (CR) Railway Protection Force (RPF) which has also uncovered his 540 associates spread across the country. Police teams will conduct raids to arrest user of this illegal software.

This is one of the biggest breakthroughs made by the Indian Railways but this is definitely not the end of such illegal software. Internet is full of over a dozen such softwares which is openly being sold. Despite the issue of illegal tatkal tickets being booked using software Indian Railways have failed to bring this menace to an end.

ALSO READ: Conman or Genius: Arrest of IIT Kharagpur Student Who Made Faster Rail Ticket Booking APP Than IRCTC Sparks Debate

Experts claim arrest of Miryala is just a tip of an iceberg. The amount of illegal money made by such software developers can be ascertained with the fact that Miryala received Rs 10 lakh in November alone as commission from the associates in his network. According to data from the RPF’s IT cell, each of his associates paid him Rs 200 per ticket as commission to use his software. His associates used to earn a premium of Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,500 per ticket.

Miryala completed his graduation in Commerce from Pawar College in Bhiwandi, where he resides. Later he took technical knowledge after doing a software course from the National Institute of Information technology and several other related courses from other institutes. Miryala was initially arrested in Pune in October 2020 on charges of ticket brokerage and was out on bail. Soon after his release, he formed a new gang.

However, such software is available in the market for long but IRCTC has failed to patch the issue. Such paid software is available on the Internet wherein agents only need to fill in passengers’ and train details along with the mode of payment, while the rest of the booking takes place automatically. The advanced software even bypasses security features like OTP from netbanking and CAPTCHA fields that are added to a website to check if a user is human or an automated programme.

Steep price for wait-listed ticket

The ticket bookings under a tatkal category comes at a premium and the window to book one opens up at 10 am for the AC class and 11 am for non-AC coaches for trains departing the next day. Fixed numbers of seats in each coach are available to travellers who need tickets urgently. Passengers often complain that by the time they enter their details on the website or complete the booking process, seats under tatkal quota disappear. Their bookings are either rejected or they get a wait-listed ticket for a steep price. However, travel agents get you confirmed tickets at a premium price.

 Software developers communicate on WhatsApp

We found over 20 such software. Interestingly, all software developers only communicate on WhatsApp so that it is difficult to track them. “Rs 2,500 for two days for getting access to 2-PNR software,” quoted the seller.” He also had a higher range of software for which he quoted Rs 10,000. The operator claims that he has sold over 8,000 copies of the software.

Demos available on YouTube

Thousands of agents are using his software to book tickets and that their technical team keeps a track on tickets booked by each software subscriber. One of the agent asked for money to be deposited to a bank account to get access to the software. He revealed that a series of demos are available on YouTube, which can guide a customer.

All the modes of payment were online and their technical team would download the software and assist people using the Team Viewer software, which helps another user to gain remote access to the computer.

Multiple tickets by bluffing IP address and mobile number

In-depth analysis of the software shows that it provides proxy IP addresses, bypasses IRCTC captcha, bank OTP, forms autofill, logs in with multiple IDs with several pairs with the help of server-based outside India, allowing the users to fraudulently gain unauthorised access to a computer network in contravention of rules and regulations.

Indian Railways isn’t losing any revenue due to such software as the booking amount goes to its account. But such activities promote an unfair practice as regular customers are cheated of their privileges by agents who have access to malicious programmes.