<h1>Railways require Aadhaar biometric authentication for online reserved bookings during first 15 minutes after reservation opens from Oct 1</h1> From October 1, the national railway authority will require biometric identity (Aadhaar) authentication for online booking of reserved general tickets during the first 15 minutes after reservations open for any train; previously this limitation applied only to emergency (Tatkal) bookings. After the initial 15 minutes, authorised ticketing agents may book online; existing counter-based PRS timings remain unchanged and a pre-existing 10-minute agent restriction at counters is retained. Railway IT contractors are directed to update systems and inform zonal units to implement the new online authentication requirement.