Solving problems with IRCTC/Cleartrip registration
This thread is for people outside India who are having problems setting up their IRCTC/Cleartrip accounts for purchasing rail tickets.
If you are encountering problems here are a few things you can try:
If all else fails post details of your problem on this thread.
NOTE: If you have not opened a Cleartrip or IRCTC account yet, read this article first: Setting up your IRCTC and Cleartrip accounts for buying railways tickets from abroad
If you are encountering problems here are a few things you can try:
- Make sure that you are not trying to register between 07.00 and 11.00 Indian Standard Time when the registration system is closed.
- If you have had a previous account do not use the same mobile phone number to register again – it will be blocked.
- Make sure that the 'made up' 10 digit mobile number that you use to register is not an obvious combination of numbers such as 1234567890. Somebody will already have used it and your registration will fail.
- Don't select a number starting with a 0 as your 'mobile number'.
- Try using a different Internet Browser while you attempt to register.
- Try calling the the IRCTC Careline at +9111 393 40000. Some people have had their problems solved by a call to the helpline.
If all else fails post details of your problem on this thread.
NOTE: If you have not opened a Cleartrip or IRCTC account yet, read this article first: Setting up your IRCTC and Cleartrip accounts for buying railways tickets from abroad
Last edited by nadreg; Jan 20th, 2014 at 06:21..
Welcome to IndiaMike
Have you double checked your IRCTC account just to be certain that the tickets haven't been booked after all?
Did you notify Amex that you would be making purchases from India before you started the process?
What time (in IST terms) were you trying to book?
Which internet browser are you using?
Have you double checked your IRCTC account just to be certain that the tickets haven't been booked after all?
Did you notify Amex that you would be making purchases from India before you started the process?
What time (in IST terms) were you trying to book?
Which internet browser are you using?
#602 Jan 14th, 2013, 18:03 
Maha Guru Member
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Quote:
if money is deducted but ticket is not booked, the refund kicks in automatically within 3 days. you should check your account to confirm that the tickets have not been booked & that these 2 cases show up in failed transactions.
Originally Posted by Gayebentham 
After a painful week of countless emails back and forth with IRCTC Customer Care, I finally obtained the precious password and mobile code. Yeeha! I logged onto the online booking site with no problem and made my first train ticket reservation. After I entered my Amex card details, I received an error message saying unfortunately it was not accepted by the bank. Never one to give up, I tried the whole procedure again and again received the same message. No ticket confirmation, just the error message. Two minutes later I received 2 SMS messages from Amex saying that two payments had been made to ICRTC! Has anyone else faced this problem? I now face another interminable round of emails with Customer Care trying to sort this out 
After a painful week of countless emails back and forth with IRCTC Customer Care, I finally obtained the precious password and mobile code. Yeeha! I logged onto the online booking site with no problem and made my first train ticket reservation. After I entered my Amex card details, I received an error message saying unfortunately it was not accepted by the bank. Never one to give up, I tried the whole procedure again and again received the same message. No ticket confirmation, just the error message. Two minutes later I received 2 SMS messages from Amex saying that two payments had been made to ICRTC! Has anyone else faced this problem? I now face another interminable round of emails with Customer Care trying to sort this out 
Quote:
Thanks for your replies. Yes, I did check my IRCTC account and no bookings were made. This was confirmed by them. So today I decided to try the Cleartrip option. I fell at the first fence as it said my Mobile OTP was incorrect (even though it had worked on the IRCTC site yesterday). Then, lo and behold, I received an email this morning from IRCTC "Successful registration" with yet ANOTHER email OTP. So of course my Mobile OTP now does not work! It is a comedy of errors! It seems AMEX had no problem with the India transaction as it went through ... But for some reason was not accepted by IRCTC. The time I made my booking was around midday Bahrain time, ie. Approx 9 am UK time. I have now requested a new Mobile OTP. Watch this space!
Originally Posted by Dave W Welcome to IndiaMike
Have you double checked your IRCTC account just to be certain that the tickets haven't been booked after all?
Did you notify Amex that you would be making purchases from India before you started the process?
What time (in IST terms) were you trying to book?
Which internet browser are you using?
Welcome to IndiaMikeHave you double checked your IRCTC account just to be certain that the tickets haven't been booked after all?
Did you notify Amex that you would be making purchases from India before you started the process?
What time (in IST terms) were you trying to book?
Which internet browser are you using?
It sounds as if you are now caught in the dreaded 'vicious circle'. I suggest that you start again with a fresh email account and follow the procedure listed in this article.
http://www.indiamike.com/india-artic...ts-from-abroad
http://www.indiamike.com/india-artic...ts-from-abroad
Thanks Dave. You could make a good sitcom out of this! In a perverse way I am enjoying it because the India "experience" has started before I've even got there. Not to mention the fun and games I had trying to get my visa here! Anyway, I will try the new passwords one more time tomorrow (can't face it today) and will then take your advice and set up a new email account and follow your instructions to the letter. Cheers!
My joy is unbounded. I have just managed to register successfully on IRCTC and Cleartrip and have made my first reservation. I have never known such a convoluted process! My thanks to all, especially Dave and Ramy for saving my sanity!
Now I hope this is a good thread to ask this...
I have managed to activate my account with cleartrip and irctc (phew!) and was trying to book a train. After I select the train and enter passenger name/age etc I click "continue" and get a message at the top:
"We could not get the updated availability and price information from IRCTC at this moment. Please try again after a while"
It's like this for 3 days now. Has anyone else experienced this?
I have managed to activate my account with cleartrip and irctc (phew!) and was trying to book a train. After I select the train and enter passenger name/age etc I click "continue" and get a message at the top:
"We could not get the updated availability and price information from IRCTC at this moment. Please try again after a while"
It's like this for 3 days now. Has anyone else experienced this?
assisted booking with IRCTC travel agent
I tried everything and had lots of frustration.
- Multiple rounds on Cleartrip waiting for mobile OTP to be sent by email. I finally got this working by realising that the form on Cleartrip resets the email OTP (it says 'register an existing account' or something similar) so when you input the mobile OTP it's out of sync. I believe you must follow the activation link in the email to avoid accidentally reseting your email OTP.
- I managed to get registered and submit payment 5 times, but everytime after the successful charge to my Visa card, the transaction fails (reported as "User is pending for verification. Booking not permitted.") and the Cleartrip site emails me that they'll be refunding my payment.
- I tried another service - Makemytrip, which had the same issues.
- I tried using the IRCTC's own application. At first I could not recall having a password on IRCTC, but I reviewed the first email I got from them, and indeed it was provided. But IRCTC site it is so slow and unfriendly that I gave up. Not sure they even take Visa. Apparently only Amex.
- I googled and found a travel agent in India who was willing to make my bookings for me and take my payment by credit card. This is called 'assisted booking' and they seem to be handling things well for a 6-segment booking.
- They are Prime Travel & Tours http://www.primetravels.com. The site says "India's leading online travel company offers Indian Railway / Train reservations online". I just sent email to tours@primetravels.com to inquire and then called by Skype +91-11-4670-0000 to confirm everything. They have offices in US and UK too, refer to the FAQ section for contact details.
- I did use Cleartrip to pick my preferred trains, and then emailed these preferences to Prime Travel. Where there was no seat available, the operator made helpful alternative suggestions.
- Found a list of agents that are authorised to provide assisted IRCTC bookings (https://www.irctc.co.in/betaDoc/IRCT...dPrincipal.pdf)
Good luck to you!
- Multiple rounds on Cleartrip waiting for mobile OTP to be sent by email. I finally got this working by realising that the form on Cleartrip resets the email OTP (it says 'register an existing account' or something similar) so when you input the mobile OTP it's out of sync. I believe you must follow the activation link in the email to avoid accidentally reseting your email OTP.
- I managed to get registered and submit payment 5 times, but everytime after the successful charge to my Visa card, the transaction fails (reported as "User is pending for verification. Booking not permitted.") and the Cleartrip site emails me that they'll be refunding my payment.
- I tried another service - Makemytrip, which had the same issues.
- I tried using the IRCTC's own application. At first I could not recall having a password on IRCTC, but I reviewed the first email I got from them, and indeed it was provided. But IRCTC site it is so slow and unfriendly that I gave up. Not sure they even take Visa. Apparently only Amex.
- I googled and found a travel agent in India who was willing to make my bookings for me and take my payment by credit card. This is called 'assisted booking' and they seem to be handling things well for a 6-segment booking.
- They are Prime Travel & Tours http://www.primetravels.com. The site says "India's leading online travel company offers Indian Railway / Train reservations online". I just sent email to tours@primetravels.com to inquire and then called by Skype +91-11-4670-0000 to confirm everything. They have offices in US and UK too, refer to the FAQ section for contact details.
- I did use Cleartrip to pick my preferred trains, and then emailed these preferences to Prime Travel. Where there was no seat available, the operator made helpful alternative suggestions.
- Found a list of agents that are authorised to provide assisted IRCTC bookings (https://www.irctc.co.in/betaDoc/IRCT...dPrincipal.pdf)
Good luck to you!
Quote:
Since you are based in Singapore, I'd have recommended going to the 24-hour full-service departmental store in Little India. They handle Railways Booking(s) and then there is another agency in Geylang. Cash or Credit - same same la
Originally Posted by wmclaxton - I googled and found a travel agent in India who was willing to make my bookings for me and take my payment by credit card. This is called 'assisted booking' and they seem to be handling things well for a 6-segment booking.
- I googled and found a travel agent in India who was willing to make my bookings for me and take my payment by credit card. This is called 'assisted booking' and they seem to be handling things well for a 6-segment booking. 
I have just noticed that messenger are switching over to skype on the 15th march,what will this do to the new address I opened last year
to get around all that cleartrip nonsense? where computers are concerned,i've 3 left hands & 2 heads; I'm due to book the first of my train tickets
on the 8th of march. Am I staring at another black hole?
Help,reassurance, even a little divine wisdom would help,PLEASE
Homerus.
to get around all that cleartrip nonsense? where computers are concerned,i've 3 left hands & 2 heads; I'm due to book the first of my train tickets
on the 8th of march. Am I staring at another black hole?
Help,reassurance, even a little divine wisdom would help,PLEASE
Homerus.
Just to say that after 3 weeks I managed to synchronize accounts and I can book trains through Cleartrip now.
First I tried to synchronize an existing Cleartrip account with an existing (and activated) IRCTC account, where unfortunately I didn't have the SMS OTP any more (and being a One Time Password it probably wouldn't work any more anyway). So I wrote an email to IRCTC and received a ticket number plus a nice mail saying that I should please be patient. Nothing happened. Another mail, another ticket. Then again. Then I called. Then another mail. Then I called again. More mails. I never received an answer.
Next I opened a new account with IRCTC. Received mobile OTP almost instantly. Activated account. Received email OTP. Tried to do the synchronizing and got an error message. Then it took about 20 mails going to and fro (and a few more passwords) until it magically worked. I booked a dummy ticket to make sure it does and did a little happydance. I still can't believe it and I'm very happy I started this a long time before I go to India. Staring at my Delhi-Agra ticket (2nd seating) and contemplating to frame it...
First I tried to synchronize an existing Cleartrip account with an existing (and activated) IRCTC account, where unfortunately I didn't have the SMS OTP any more (and being a One Time Password it probably wouldn't work any more anyway). So I wrote an email to IRCTC and received a ticket number plus a nice mail saying that I should please be patient. Nothing happened. Another mail, another ticket. Then again. Then I called. Then another mail. Then I called again. More mails. I never received an answer.
Next I opened a new account with IRCTC. Received mobile OTP almost instantly. Activated account. Received email OTP. Tried to do the synchronizing and got an error message. Then it took about 20 mails going to and fro (and a few more passwords) until it magically worked. I booked a dummy ticket to make sure it does and did a little happydance. I still can't believe it and I'm very happy I started this a long time before I go to India. Staring at my Delhi-Agra ticket (2nd seating) and contemplating to frame it...
Baba
#615 Mar 11th, 2013, 21:09 
It's all Greek to me, but Benglish will do
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Congratulations, Baba, I know the feeling !!!!!
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