Ticket scalpers are becoming increasingly active as the festival season approaches. In response to increased railway protection force (RPF) scrutiny, these scalpers have shifted their operations online, using WhatsApp groups and social media to build their networks and book e-tickets. This presents a new challenge for authorities. The RPF in Visakhapatnam...
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has alerted other units across Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh about a major network of ticket scalpers operating with personal IDs to book tickets on the IRCTC website. They have provided a list of over 1200 suspected scalpers. One such scalper, who used fake letters of parliamentarians to get tickets confirmed, was arrested in Muzaffarpur in April 2023 after a Visakhapatnam RPF investigation. The scalpers are currently offering to secure tickets for people returning from Chhath, which falls in the first week of November, with inflated prices, charging Rs. 5000 for a set of six sleeper class tickets and even more for AC tickets.