Accordingly the user is required to log in to the IRCTC booking portal in order to book Tatkal tickets. Hence if not registered with the IRCTC portal already, the user is required to complete the registration process and log in using his or her account details. Meanwhile after login, the user is directed to the "Book Your Ticket" page. Here, the user can search for available trains by filling in details such as source and destination stations, date of journey and class of travel. The next page displays the list of trains available for the selected route. The user can access information about the timings and route of a train by clicking on its name.

Furthermore in the next step, the user is required to indicate the booking class for the selected train. The "quota" option is available at right side of the above train list. For booking a Tatkal ticket, the user needs to select "Tatkal" under the quota section. Further to book a Tatkal ticket in the selected train, the user is required to click on the "Book Now" option. On the passenger reservation page, the user is required to confirm details such as the train name, station names, class and journey date displayed on the left side of the page to proceed.

Moreover after this step, the user is asked to enter details such as the names, age, berth preference and food choice for each passenger. After entering the details, the user may proceed by clicking on the "continue booking" option. At this stage, any of the filled details can be changed by selecting the "re-plan booking" option. After successful payment and booking of accommodations, the ticket confirmation page is displayed. A virtual reservation message (VRM) in the form of SMS is sent by the Railways system to the mobile number provided in the passenger reservation form.