Bulk Group Booking: Book up to 100 people together in one coach via a CRS written application.
Booking train tickets for a large group of up to 100 passengers cannot be done through standard online IRCTC accounts, which cap bookings at 6 to 24 passengers per month. Instead, Indian Railways offers a Bulk/Group Booking facility at computerized Passenger Reservation System (PRS) counters.
Here is everything you need to know about the rules, approval limits, and the step-by-step process for booking a large group in a single train.
The Exact 4-Tier Bureaucratic Ladder
Earlier, I gave you the general rule of thumb for approvals (up to 50, and up to 100). However, the absolute strict statutory breakdown for who must sign your application is divided into exactly four tiers based on passenger count:
- 7 to 18 Passengers: Chief Reservation Supervisor (CRS) or Station Manager.
- 19 to 48 Passengers: Assistant Commercial Manager (ACM) or Area Officer.
- 49 to 72 Passengers: Divisional Commercial Manager (DCM).
- 73 Passengers and Above: Senior Divisional Commercial Manager (Sr. DCM).
(If your group is exactly 100
people, you bypass the regular DCM entirely and must go straight to the Sr.
DCM's office).
Step-by-Step Procedure
- Draft the Application: Write a formal request letter (format below) addressed to the CRS or DCM stating the train details, date, and the specific purpose of travel (e.g., marriage party, educational tour, sports event, pilgrimage).
- Prepare the Passenger List:
Create a printed list of all passengers including their Name, Age, and Gender.
Create three copies (one original, one duplicate, one triplicate).
Several railway zones (such as the East Central Railway) explicitly require you to furnish the passenger list in triplicate (three copies) when seeking permission.
a. The approving authority keeps one copy for their files.
b. The reservation clerk keeps the second copy at the ticket counter.
c. You get the third original stamped copy back to carry on the train.
Pro-tip: Always bring three copies just to be safe, regardless of which zone you are in. - Gather Documents:
ID Proof: The head of the group must provide a copy of their valid government ID (Aadhaar, PAN, etc.).
Supporting Proof: If traveling for a specific purpose, attach proof (e.g., a wedding invitation card for marriage parties, or an official letterhead with a seal if it is a school/corporate group). - Get Approval: Visit the CRS office at your nearest major railway station. The approving official will verify your documents, retain the original application for their records, and sign/stamp all pages of your duplicate passenger list.
- Book at the Counter: Take the approved, stamped list to the dedicated Bulk Booking counter. Fill out a standard single railway reservation slip. In the passenger details section, simply write "Names as per the attached approved list."
- Payment: Pay the standard ticket fare via cash or UPI. There are no extra bulk-booking fees, but standard ticket fares apply.
Key Rules and Restrictions
- Booking Timings: Bulk booking is not allowed between 8:00 AM and 9:00 AM on the opening day of the Advance Reservation Period (ARP). You must apply after 9:00 AM to ensure regular passengers have a fair chance at tickets.
- Seat Availability Limits: To prevent hoarding, railways will generally not grant bulk booking for more than 50% of total available berths in Sleeper/Second class or 33% (1/3rd) of available berths in AC classes on any given train. The 50% capacity rule has two massive hidden exceptions:
- The Waitlist Voiding: If the train is already full and tickets are in RAC/Waitlist, the 50% restriction is completely ignored because you aren't taking confirmed seats away from the public.
- Pooled Quota: If you are boarding from a station in the middle of the route, the limit drops to 33% across all classes.
- No Travel Agents: Group booking must be done directly by the head of the traveling party or an authorized representative of the institution. Travel agents are strictly prohibited from utilizing this facility.
- While standard citizens are strictly banned from using travel agents for bulk booking, an official exception exists allowing authorized agents to submit the paperwork exclusively on behalf of Foreign Tourists and Non-Resident Indians (NRIs).
- Name Changes: Name changes on bulk tickets are permitted under standard railway rules (e.g., up to 48 hours before departure for marriage parties or students), but they must be endorsed by the CRS.
- Return Journeys: You can request the return journey booking simultaneously at the same reservation office, but you must submit a separate application and passenger list for it.
CRS Written Application Format
You can copy, paste, and modify this template to submit to the reservation office.
*** There is one crucial technicality to clarify regarding your request: you cannot actually book 100 people together in a single coach using the standard CRS bulk booking method.
If you are planning a trip for a group of this size, here is what you need to know about seating allocation, as well as a few final rules regarding standard bulk bookings.
1. The "One Coach" Misconception
A standard CRS bulk booking application only gives you permission to book a large number of tickets on a regular train; it does not reserve an entire dedicated coach for your group.
- Physical Limits: Standard Indian Railway coaches simply cannot fit 100 people. A Sleeper (SL) coach holds 72 to 80 berths, and an AC 3-Tier coach holds 64 to 72 berths. (Only Second Seating/2S chair cars hold 108).
- The 50% Rule: To prevent a single group from monopolizing a train, Indian Railways mandates that a bulk booking cannot exceed 50% of the available berths in Sleeper/Second class or 33% (1/3rd) of available berths in AC classes.
What this means for you: When you book 100 tickets at the counter via CRS approval, your passengers will be spread out across multiple coaches. The booking system will try to keep them as close as possible, but you will not have an exclusive coach.
2. The Alternative: FTR (Full Tariff Rate) Booking
If your goal is to have exclusive, private coaches entirely dedicated to your 100-person group (with no outside passengers), you should not use the CRS bulk booking method.
Instead, you must use IRCTC's FTR (Full Tariff Rate) Service.
- How it works: You charter entire coaches (or a full train) which are then attached to a scheduled train. For 100 people, you would likely need two standard Sleeper or AC coaches.
- Cost: You pay standard fare plus a 30% service charge, and you must place a refundable security deposit of ₹50,000 per coach.
- Process: This is done online via the dedicated IRCTC FTR portal (ftr.irctc.co.in) a minimum of 30 days and a maximum of 6 months in advance.
3. Other Critical Bulk Booking Rules to Remember
If you decide to stick with the standard CRS Bulk Booking method, keep these final constraints in mind:
- No Tatkal: Bulk booking is strictly prohibited under the Tatkal quota. It only applies to general quota availability.
- Waitlist Risks: A CRS signature only gives you permission to buy the tickets; it does not guarantee confirmed seats. If you apply when the train is already mostly full, your 100 tickets will go into the Waitlist (WL).
- One Journey per Application: If you are booking a round trip, you cannot put both journeys on the same letter. You must submit a completely separate application and passenger list for the return journey, even if you are submitting them at the same time.
4. You Will Receive 17 Different
Tickets (PNRs)
The Indian Railways PRS software can only print a maximum of 6 passengers per physical ticket.
- When the booking clerk processes your approved 100-person list, the system will generate 17 separate tickets, each with its own unique 10-digit PNR.
- The Logistics: You must keep all 17 physical tickets safe. When the Traveling Ticket Examiner (TTE) comes to check tickets, you will need to present the specific PNR ticket that matches the passengers seated in that specific bay.
5. Name Replacement Protocol (The Strict 10% Limit & The Bulk Booking Register)
If someone drops out of the trip and you want to replace them with another guest, you cannot simply cross out their name on the ticket.
- The Rule: Indian Railways permits name changes for bulk bookings, but it must be done 48 hours prior to departure (for marriage parties or student groups) or 24 hours prior (for general groups/family).
- The Process: You must take the original physical ticket, the original approved passenger list, and a written request to the Chief Reservation Supervisor (CRS). The CRS will manually endorse the new name, stamp the ticket, and update the station's bulk booking register.
- While you are allowed to change names, the fine print caps this at exactly 10% of your total group size. Furthermore, a CRS stamp isn't enough; the change is legally void unless the CRS manually logs it into the station's physical "Bulk Booking Register".
6. Identity Verification During Travel
While you had to submit the group leader's ID during the application phase, identity verification continues on the train.
- Standard Rule: Normally, at least one passenger on every PNR must carry an original government ID. Because your group is split across 17 PNRs, you should technically have one person with an ID for every 6-person ticket.
- The Bulk Loophole: To make this easier, the group leader should carry the original stamped duplicate passenger list (returned to you by the CRS) along with their own original ID. Presenting this master list to the TTE usually satisfies the ID requirement for the entire group, provided the group leader is physically present.
7. Cancellation Restrictions
If you need to cancel the trip entirely, or partially cancel a few passengers, you are bound by offline ticket rules.
- Counter Only: Because these are paper tickets booked at a PRS counter, they cannot be cancelled online via the standard IRCTC app. You must physically take the paper tickets back to a computerized reservation counter to process the cancellation and collect your cash refund.
- Time Limits: To get a refund, tickets must be cancelled well before chart preparation (usually 4 hours before departure). Standard cancellation fees per passenger will apply.
8. Managing Group Catering
Because this is a standard train
booking and not a private charter, meals are not included or bulk-managed for
you. Coordinating food for 100 people across multiple coaches via pantry car
vendors in the moment is highly difficult. You will need to use the IRCTC
E-Catering Group Order service online a few days before your journey to
have a restaurant deliver 100 meals to your seats at a specific station.
9. The ₹50,000 PAN Card Rule
Booking for 100 people—even in Sleeper class—can easily cause your total ticket fare to exceed ₹50,000.
Under Indian Income Tax rules, if you are paying for these tickets in cash and the total amount exceeds ₹50,000, you are legally required to submit a photocopy of your PAN Card at the counter.
Ensure the person standing in
line to pay carries their physical PAN card and a photocopy, or you may be
turned away at the last second.
10. The Approval Signature Expires
Once you get the Assistant Commercial Manager (ACM) or Divisional Commercial Manager (DCM) to sign and approve your bulk booking application, you cannot hold onto that letter for weeks while you collect money from the group.
- The approval signature generally has a strict 24 to 48-hour validity.
- You must take the stamped application to the booking counter and purchase the tickets within this window, otherwise, the approval lapses and you will have to restart the permission process.
11. The Waitlisted "Paper Ticket" Trap
If your group of 100 gets waitlisted (WL) tickets, you face a very different scenario than online booking.
- When you book online via IRCTC, waitlisted tickets that don't get confirmed are automatically cancelled and refunded. This does not happen with counter tickets.
- Because you hold physical PRS paper tickets, if your 100 tickets remain waitlisted after the final chart is prepared, they remain valid for travel—but only in the Unreserved (General) compartments.
- You are strictly prohibited from entering the reserved AC or Sleeper coaches with waitlisted paper tickets. Moving 100 people into crowded General coaches is virtually impossible, so you must aggressively track your PNR status and manually cancel at the counter before the chart is prepared if confirmation looks unlikely.
12. You Only Fill Out ONE Requisition Slip
Even though you have a neatly
printed and stamped master list of all 100 passengers, the railway booking
software still requires standard paperwork.
- Clause 14 of the Bulk Booking Guidelines explicitly states: "The passenger shall submit only one reservation form for one journey."
- You fill out exactly one standard reservation slip. In the name column, you simply write "Remarks as per the attached list."
- You hand over the one slip and the master list, and the railway booking clerk is legally required to do the heavy lifting of manually entering all that data to generate your 17 physical PNR tickets.
13. The Station's Secret "Bulk Booking Register"
If you need to execute that
48-hour name-change rule we discussed earlier, the Chief Reservation Supervisor
(CRS) doesn't just stamp your new ticket and send you away.
- Clause 17 dictates that every major station maintains a physical, audited ledger called the Bulk Booking Register.
- Any name changes or modifications to your 100-person group must be permanently endorsed in this specific physical logbook by the CRS. If they just stamp your ticket but forget to log it in the book, and a railway vigilance inspector checks the train, your new passenger could technically be penalized.
14. The "Unscrupulous Elements" Veto Power
Even if you have the perfect
paperwork, the exact number of passengers, the ID proofs, and the approval
signatures from the Senior DCM, the local CRS at the counter still has a final,
subjective veto power.
- Clause 8 states that the CRS must ensure there is "no cornering of berths by unscrupulous elements in the pretext of bulk booking".
- This legally gives the station authority the right to unilaterally reject your 100-person booking at the very last second if they even remotely suspect your "group" is actually a front for ticket scalping or hoarding.
15. The Outstation Application Exception (Fax/Email)
If you live far away from the Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) or Commercial Manager's office, you do not always have to travel there in person just to get the approval signature.
- Railway circulars allow organizers to fax or email the request letter and passenger list to the competent authority (like the DCM or Sr. DCM).
- The authority will process it and send a control message directly to the Chief Reservation Supervisor (CRS) at your local station. You can then go to your local station, and the CRS will confirm the message and issue the tickets. (Note: You must still bring the original hard copies to the counter).
16. The "Tejas Express"
Online Loophole
Earlier, we established that you cannot book a full coach online or guarantee your group sits together in one coach. There is one modern exception to this rule: IRCTC's corporate trains.
- If you are traveling on routes served by the Tejas Express (e.g., New Delhi to Lucknow), IRCTC allows online group booking via the IRCTC Tourism portal.
- You can book an entire AC Chair Car coach (78 seats) completely online, without visiting a CRS or submitting a paper application.
- The catch: You must pay the fare for all 78 seats, even if you only have 60 or 70 passengers traveling.
17. Children Under 5 Years Old
Indian Railways allows children under 5 to travel for free without a ticket. However, in a bulk booking scenario:
- They must be on the list: Do not leave toddlers off your master passenger list just because they are free.
- If a child is not explicitly listed on the stamped, approved manifest, the TTE can declare them an "unauthorized passenger," which can cause unnecessary disputes or fines during the journey. Add them to the list and mark their age; the system will automatically charge ₹0 for them.
18. Changing Your Boarding Point
If your group decides it is easier to board the train at the next major station rather than the origin station, you have to be careful.
- Because you hold counter-generated paper tickets, you cannot use the IRCTC app or website to update your boarding point.
- You must submit a written request to the station master or CRS at least 24 hours before the train's departure to officially change the boarding station for your group. If you fail to do this and the group doesn't board at the original station, the TTE is legally allowed to mark you as "No-Shows" and allot your 100 seats to RAC/Waitlisted passengers before you reach the second station.
19. The 60-Day ARP Window
Finally, timing is everything. Indian Railways recently reduced the Advance Reservation Period (ARP) from 120 days to 60 days.
- Do not apply for your bulk booking 3 months in advance; the reservation system will not even be open for your train.
- The Sweet Spot: Have your application signed and approved on Day 62 or 61, and be standing at the reservation counter at 9:05 AM on the 60th day before your journey (remember, bulk booking is banned between 8:00 AM and 9:00 AM on opening day). This gives you the highest mathematical chance of securing 100 confirmed seats before the train fills up.
20. The "Organizer Must Travel" Rule
You cannot send a random employee, a junior assistant, or a travel agent to stand in line at the counter and pay for the tickets.
- The person physically booking the tickets at the counter must be one of the passengers traveling on the master list.
- Their name on the government ID must exactly match the name on the debit/credit card used to make the payment. If you send someone else to swipe their card, the booking supervisor can reject the transaction.
21. The "All or Nothing" Boarding Point Rule
In a standard individual booking, you can sometimes have different passengers on the same ticket board at different stations. You cannot do this with a bulk booking.
- All 100 passengers on your approved application must board at the exact same location.
- If your group is split geographically, you cannot have 50 people board at the starting station and 50 people board two stops later. The reservation system will not allow partial boarding point changes for bulk PNRs.
22. Claiming Corporate GST (Input Tax Credit)
If you are booking this trip for a corporate retreat or business purpose and are traveling in AC Classes (which attract a 5% GST), you can claim Input Tax Credit (ITC).
- At the counter: Even though you are booking offline paper tickets, you can write your company's GSTIN number on the green bulk requisition slips.
- The booking clerk will input this into the PRS system, and your physical tickets will act as valid GST invoices for your accounting department. (Note: Sleeper and Second Sitting classes are exempt from GST, so this only applies to AC coaches).
23. Mixing Concessions (Students vs. Senior Citizens)
If you are applying for a bulk booking on behalf of a school, you are allowed to apply the standard Indian Railways Student Concession to the bulk booking.
- However, you must submit the official Student Concession Certificate signed by the School Principal along with the bulk booking application.
- Warning for general groups: If your 100-person group includes Senior Citizens, be aware that Indian Railways has suspended senior citizen fare concessions. Even if they are reinstated in the future, standard individual concessions are generally difficult to process inside a mass bulk-booking list without separating those passengers onto individual PNRs.
24. Massive Luggage Restrictions
If your group of 100 is a sports team with heavy equipment, a cultural troupe with instruments, or a marriage party with large trunks, you will quickly violate the free luggage allowance (which is strictly 40kg to 50kg per passenger in Sleeper/3AC).
- You cannot just pile 100 people's heavy luggage into the passenger aisles.
- If your group has oversized or excessive baggage, you must take your confirmed bulk tickets to the Parcel Office at the station 1 to 2 days before departure and pre-book space in the train's Brake Van (the dedicated luggage coach at the end of the train).
25. The "Suvidha" Train Ban
Indian Railways runs special dynamic-fare festival trains called "Suvidha Express." Because fares on these trains rise exponentially as seats fill up, the software strictly blocks all bulk bookings on Suvidha trains. You can, however, do a bulk booking on premium trains like the Vande Bharat or Rajdhani, provided you get the proper approvals.
26. The YTSK / Agent Ban
Even if you find an authorized
Indian Railways ticket agent (like a YTSK - Yatri Ticket Suvidha Kendra)
operating a legitimate computer terminal in your city, they cannot process
your bulk booking. The PRS software restricts bulk bookings exclusively to
the main railway station reservation counters. Travel agents are entirely
banned from the process.
27. Circular Journey Integration
If your 100-person group is going
on a massive multi-city tour (e.g., a school trip doing Delhi -> Agra ->
Jaipur -> Delhi), you do not have to submit separate bulk booking
applications for every single leg of the trip. You can apply for a Circular
Journey Ticket first. Once the route is approved, the Divisional Commercial
Manager (DCM) can authorize the bulk booking for the entire multi-stop
itinerary on a single master application.
28. The Pooled Quota (PQWL) Restriction
Earlier, we established that you
can book up to 50% of the available Sleeper class seats on a train. However, if
your group is boarding at an intermediate station (a station in the middle of
the route, not the origin station), you fall under the "Pooled
Quota." For Pooled Quota bookings, the railway further restricts bulk
booking to just 33% (1/3rd) of the available berths, even in Sleeper
class.
29. Return of the Master List
After your journey is complete,
do not throw away that stamped, duplicate master passenger list. If your train
was delayed by more than 3 hours, or if the AC failed in your coaches, you are
entitled to a partial refund. To file a Ticket Deposit Receipt (TDR) for a
refund offline, you will need to submit all 17 physical tickets along
with that original CRS-stamped master list.
30. The "Triplicate" Zone Rule
While we previously mentioned bringing your passenger list in duplicate, several railway zones (such as the East Central Railway) explicitly require you to furnish the passenger list in triplicate (three copies) when seeking permission.
- The approving authority keeps one copy for their files.
- The reservation clerk keeps the second copy at the ticket counter.
- You get the third original stamped copy back to carry on the train.
- Pro-tip: Always bring three copies just to be safe, regardless of which zone you are in.
31. The Foreigner/NRI "Travel Agent" Loophole
Earlier, I mentioned that travel agents are strictly banned from processing bulk bookings, and the group leader must do it themselves. There is exactly one legal exception to this rule:
- If the bulk booking is being made exclusively for a group of Foreign Tourists or Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), the railway board allows an authorized travel agent to submit the CRS application and process the booking on their behalf.
32. The Notarized Affidavit Alternative
When booking for a marriage party 60 days in advance, a common problem is that the physical wedding invitation cards haven't actually been printed yet.
- Indian Railways accounts for this: If you don't have a wedding card to use as proof of travel, you are allowed to submit a notarized affidavit legally declaring the marriage to get the bulk booking approved.
- Additionally, if you are traveling as a religious or cultural group, you cannot just write a letter; you must bring the original Certificate of Registration of your organization to prove you are a legitimate cultural entity, along with a photocopy.
33. The "Waitlist Voiding" of the 50% Rule
Earlier, we discussed that a bulk booking cannot exceed 50% of the available seats in Sleeper class or 33% in AC classes. However, there is a brilliant loophole in the circular: This limit only applies to available, confirmed seats.
- If you apply for a bulk booking on a train where the status has already moved into RAC (Reservation Against Cancellation) or Waitlist (WL), the 50% restriction is officially completely ignored.
- Why? Because you are no longer taking confirmed seats away from the public; you are just piling your 100 people onto the waitlist.
34. The "Festival Season" Automatic Denial
Do not try to execute a 100-person bulk booking during Diwali, Chhath Puja, Holi, or peak summer holidays.
- Railway circulars explicitly instruct Commercial Managers to reject bulk booking applications during peak/festival rush periods.
- The policy dictates that large groups should not inconvenience the general public during times of mass migration. During these weeks, the facility is quietly suspended at the discretion of the station authorities.
35. The Mandatory "Adult/Child" Declaration Phrase
When you submit your typed passenger list, you cannot just hand over a simple Excel spreadsheet. If you do not write a specific legal sentence at the bottom, the Chief Reservation Supervisor (CRS) will send you to the back of the line.
- The absolute final page of your master passenger list must contain this exact handwritten declaration at the bottom: "Total number of passengers (____ adults and ____ children)".
- The group leader must physically sign below this sentence, and if you are traveling as an institution, the official rubber stamp must be pressed exactly over the signature.
36. The VIP Emergency Quota (HO) Ban
In standard ticket booking, if your ticket is Waitlisted, you can theoretically submit a letter from an MP, MLA, or high-ranking government official to get it confirmed via the "Headquarters/Emergency Quota" (HO).
- You cannot do this with a 100-person bulk booking.
- The Emergency Quota on a train is extremely small (often just 4 to 12 seats per coach). If you submit a VIP letter trying to clear 17 waitlisted bulk PNRs, the commercial department will instantly reject the request, as it would instantly wipe out the entire VIP quota for the whole train.
37. The Brutal Tejas Express Cancellation Penalties
In the previous message, I mentioned the "Tejas Express Loophole," where you can book an entire 78-seat AC Chair Car online via IRCTC Tourism without visiting a CRS. While it is highly convenient, the cancellation rules for this are brutal compared to standard PRS tickets.
If you cancel standard counter tickets, you lose a nominal clerkage fee (around ₹60 to ₹240 per passenger).
But if you cancel a Tejas bulk
booking between 5 to 10 days before the journey, Indian Railways deducts
a massive 70% of your total fare. Cancel under 5 days, and you get
absolutely nothing back.
38. The Strict 10% Name Change Limit
We previously established that you can change passenger names on your approved list up to 48 hours before departure. However, there is a hard mathematical cap on this: You are only allowed to change a maximum of 10% of the total passengers in your group.
- If you booked for 100 people, the Chief Reservation Supervisor (CRS) will legally only allow you to swap out a maximum of 10 people.
- If 15 people drop out, the remaining 5 tickets must be completely cancelled; you cannot replace them with new guests.
39. The "Nominated Station" Restriction
You cannot walk into just any local neighborhood railway station to execute this.
- Bulk booking facilities are not available at all computerized reservation centers. They are strictly restricted to major divisional headquarters or specific nominated terminal stations.
- For example, in New Delhi, standard stations will reject you; you must specifically go to the Reservation Complex at the IRCA Building. You must always verify that your local station has a gazetted officer or a dedicated Bulk Booking counter before showing up with your paperwork.
40. The "Vikalp" (Alternate Train) Disaster
Indian Railways has a scheme called Vikalp (ATAS), which automatically shifts waitlisted passengers to another train on the same route if seats are empty. There is a Vikalp checkbox on the reservation slip.
- Never check this box for a bulk booking.
- Because your 100 passengers are split across 17 different PNRs, the Vikalp algorithm treats them as 17 separate groups.
- If your group is waitlisted, the system might find 12 empty seats on an earlier train and 24 empty seats on a later train. It will automatically transfer a few of your PNRs to the other trains without asking you. You will wake up to find your 100-person group permanently split across three different trains departing at different times.
41. The Auto-Upgradation Trap
Similarly, there is a checkbox for "Consider for Auto-Upgradation." If checked, passengers in Sleeper class might get automatically bumped up to empty seats in 3AC for free.
- Do not opt into this.
- The PRS software will not upgrade all 100 people—it doesn't have the space. Instead, it will look at your 17 PNRs and might upgrade just one or two of them to 3AC.
- You will end up with 12 people sitting in an air-conditioned coach while the remaining 88 are stuck in Sleeper, completely ruining the "togetherness" of your group travel and creating chaos about who gets the AC seats.
42. The "Missing Group Leader" Penalty (Total Ticket Voiding)
While we established that the group leader whose ID was used must be the one to pay at the counter, there is a severe on-board penalty regarding their physical presence during the journey.
- If the TTE comes to check tickets and the designated group leader (the one holding the original CRS-stamped master list) missed the train or dropped out at the last minute, the entire bulk booking is considered invalid.
- Because the TTE cannot verify the master ID that binds the 17 PNRs together, all 100 passengers can legally be marked as "Traveling Without Ticket" (WT) and penalized with heavy fines.
- Pro-Tip: If the group leader falls sick the day before the journey, you must rush to the CRS office under the 24/48-hour name-change rule to legally transfer the "Head of Party" title and ID to another passenger on the list.
43. The Bureaucratic Ladder Changes Based on A/C vs. Sleeper
Earlier, I gave you the
bureaucratic tier list for approval (where 73+ passengers go to the Sr. DCM).
However, that ladder only applies to Sleeper and Second Seating classes.
If you are booking your 100 people in AC Classes (1A, 2A, 3A, or Chair Car), the rules become significantly stricter. Because AC seats are highly limited, the approval limits drop drastically:
- 7 to 24 AC Passengers: Requires the Assistant Commercial Manager (ACM). (Notice the local CRS isn't even allowed to approve a 7-person AC group!)
- 25 to 30 AC Passengers: Requires the Divisional Commercial Manager (DCM).
- 31 AC Passengers and Above: Goes straight to the Senior Divisional Commercial Manager (Sr. DCM).
So, for 100 people in AC, you
skip every middleman and go directly to the highest regional authority.
44. The "Phone Control Message" Emergency Exception
We discussed outstation faxes and emails to get approval if you live far from the DCM's office. But what if the internal railway fax network is down, or there is an extreme, time-sensitive emergency (like a military movement or an urgent rescue group)?
- The Phone Loophole: Commercial Circulars state that in "exceptional cases," the local Chief Reservation Supervisor (CRS) is authorized to call the DCM or Sr. DCM on the internal railway telephone network.
- The authority can grant verbal permission, and the CRS will log it as a "Control Message" on your application. However, the CRS is legally bound to obtain the written confirmation from the DCM via mail later to cover their tracks.
45. The ₹1,00,000 Tejas Express Deposit
I previously mentioned the modern "loophole" of booking an entire 78-seat Tejas Express coach online without dealing with the CRS paperwork. While a standard offline FTR charter coach requires a ₹50,000 security deposit, the Tejas online group booking has its own premium penalty structure:
- Booking a Tejas AC Chair Car coach online requires a massive ₹1,00,000 caution deposit.
- Furthermore, if you cancel a Tejas group booking between 1 to 5 days before the journey, Indian Railways deducts an astonishing 80% of your total fare. Cancel with less than 24 hours to go, and you forfeit 100% of the money.
46. The "Empty Counter" Veto
If you go to a massive station (like New Delhi or CSMT Mumbai) and see that the regular ticketing counters are completely empty, but there is a line at the designated "Bulk Booking" counter, you cannot use the empty regular counters.
- Clause 15(a) strictly mandates: "In places where exclusive reservation counters are earmarked for group booking, the requests for group/bulk booking shall be handled at these counters only."
- A regular clerk will literally refuse to type in your single requisition slip, even if they have no other customers, because their terminal may not be authorized to log the transaction into the station's Bulk Booking Register.
47. The Military/Paramilitary Override
Throughout this entire conversation, we talked about capacities, 50% rules, waitlist voiding, and the Senior DCM's approval for 100 people
- There is exactly one group in India that bypasses almost all of this: Defense Personnel traveling on Military Warrants.
- According to Clause 18, if the group booking is for military movement, the competent authority uses their "discretion" to bypass standard capacity limits and immediately permit the whole group, often overriding the standard public quotas entirely to accommodate national security logistics.
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