Indian Railways is preparing to shut down general ticket counters for non-reserved travel and withdraw permanent staff from these roles, replacing them with private agencies and Mobile UTS (M-UTS) assistants. Initially a pilot initiative, this system will be rolled out in phases to reduce manpower at general counters and redeploy staff to other departments.

M-UTS assistants are being deployed at selected stations on a contractual basis, issuing tickets to passengers. Private ticketing agencies, such as Jan Sadharan Ticket Booking Sevaks (JTBS)—operational since 2019—and Station Ticket Booking Agents (STBAs), already manage sales across several locations, especially in Kerala.

Additionally, Automatic Ticket Vending Machines (ATVMs) and retired staff operating on contract are being leveraged for ticketing services.

Railways has also begun converting Tatkal PRS counters into Integrated Unreserved Ticketing System (IUTS) counters, which act as reservation desks during fixed hours and unreserved ticket counters at other times.

At night, station masters have had to issue unreserved tickets, raising security concerns. In response, Southern Railway has decided to relieve station masters from both ticketing and passenger information duties.

This shift to a tech-enabled and privatised ticketing model reflects Indian Railways' broader effort to improve efficiency and resource allocation.