The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has flagged nine crore [3] user accounts and expanded AI-powered monitoring across railway kitchens.
These measures aim to curb systemic ticket-booking fraud and elevate food-safety standards for millions of passengers traveling across the national rail network.
As part of a crackdown on fraudulent activity, IRCTC deactivated over three crore [1] suspicious user IDs. Some reports specify this figure as 3.03 crore [8]. The agency verified six crore [2] additional accounts to ensure legitimacy. This effort follows a period of record online railway ticket bookings reported for the 2025-26 fiscal year [7].
Simultaneously, the corporation has rolled out an AI-driven monitoring system to oversee food preparation. The system now covers 800 railway kitchens [5] nationwide. To maintain hygiene, IRCTC deployed 2,394 cameras [4] capable of detecting nine [6] different types of hygiene issues.
The AI system allows for real-time oversight of kitchen staff and food handling processes. By automating the detection of sanitary lapses, the agency intends to reduce human error and ensure consistent quality across various stations.
The combination of digital account scrubbing and physical AI surveillance represents a broader push toward modernization. By targeting both the booking process and the onboard experience, IRCTC is attempting to secure the entire passenger journey from purchase to meal service.
“IRCTC deactivated over 3 crore suspicious user IDs.”
This dual-pronged approach indicates that IRCTC is shifting toward an automated governance model to manage the scale of India's rail infrastructure. By utilizing AI for both cybersecurity and public health, the agency is attempting to eliminate the middle-man fraud in ticketing and the volatility of manual food safety inspections.
