Display Your IRCTC Authorisation Certificate

You’ve got your agent ID, the counter is ready, and now you want it to look the part. A board outside, a few visiting cards, maybe a banner with the railway logo. It’s a good instinct, because customers trust a shop that looks official. But some of those things need paperwork first, and a printer can’t give you that paperwork.

This page covers what to put on the wall, what to put on the sign, and what to check before you order anything with IRCTC’s name or logo on it.

What should you put on the wall?

As checked on 18 October 2026, IRCTC’s agent policy requires the PSP to issue an authorisation certificate to its RSPs. The agent has to display it prominently at the outlet, agency, counter or centre. The PSP’s document and IRCTC’s public provider register do different jobs, and we’ll come back to that below.

The agent authorisation letter page explains the document. Before you put up a replacement, check that the appointment details match your shop and the authorised account. If your copy is missing or wrong, ask the PSP that issued it. And never create or edit a certificate yourself.

What should your sign board say?

IRCTC’s policy calls for an outside sign board that shows instructions and charge information. That includes IRCTC charges, agent charges and payment-gateway charges. The policy also describes getting a soft copy of the IRCTC logo by request.

Payment-gateway charges: being confirmed with IRCTC.

Keep the charge information easy to read and consistent with the authorised material. Before you print a permanent board, ask the PSP to confirm the current wording. Don’t add any promise about seats or refunds. And don’t type in a guessed gateway percentage just to fill the layout.

Which materials need permission?

A sign board isn’t permission for every design. This table lists the materials the policy mentions and who decides each one.

One more line from the policy matters. It describes agents as IRCTC-authorised e-ticketing agents, and it prohibits presenting the organisation as an authorised Railway Agent. So don’t make your shop sound like IRCTC itself.

How do you ask for approval the right way?

Before you order a banner, send the whole proposed design through the applicable permission route. Show the exact logo use, the service description and the charges. Keep the written approval with the final artwork. A printer, or an advertisement from your provider, can’t grant IRCTC’s permission.

If an approval email is unclear, reply with the full proposed material and ask what use it covers. Hold the order until the scope is clear. And never write an invented approval reference on the artwork, however sure you are that it will come.

Here’s a small example. It’s made up, and it doesn’t describe a real permission. Say you asked about a visiting card design and got a reply. A week later, your printer suggests new wording for the card and an extra line about your services. Compare the new proof with the old one, and note exactly what changed. An earlier answer doesn’t automatically cover amended material, so send the changed proof and ask whether it’s covered. If the new wording implies you control booking outcomes, or suggests the shop is IRCTC itself, fix that before asking for copies. Don’t let a logo file justify a claim printed beside it.

What proof can customers see?

IRCTC’s provider register, retrieved 18 October 2026, lists SiOnline under the Internet Cafe Scheme at page 6, row 27 as “M/s SI Online Technomart Pvt. Ltd., Ratlam”. That’s the principal-provider listing. It isn’t a list of every shop agent.

The PSP verification guide explains how to check it. If a customer wants to verify your counter, show your appointment document and point to the provider named on it. Don’t offer the principal’s register entry in place of your own retail appointment.

What if the name or address is wrong?

Set aside any artwork whose permission status is unclear. If the name or address on your certificate differs from reality, ask the PSP how the appointment record should be corrected.

If you’re moving the counter, there’s a specific rule. IRCTC’s Agent Policy I.vii, checked on 18 October 2026, requires an RSP address change to be intimated to IRCTC with the original certificate issued by the PSP. So ask the PSP how to make that intimation and what to do with the original. Don’t change the address on a scanned copy. And a new board doesn’t prove the appointment record has been updated.

Keep two things apart. Telling customers your new phone number and entrance is one job. Updating the appointment record is another. Don’t report them as one finished action. If a replacement document arrives, note which copy it replaces, and check your other display spots so customers don’t see two sets of details. If the update is still pending, ask the PSP what you should say in the meantime. Don’t invent an interim authorisation from your moving date.

For an existing SiOnline appointment, contact support with the agent ID and a description of the document problem. If the validity of the appointment is also in question, read the renewal page.

What should you check when the printer delivers?

Put each delivered item next to the proof you approved. Read the business name, the service description and the address, then the logo placement and the charge labels. A correct image doesn’t make up for a changed sentence underneath it.

Keep errors separate. If the printer got the wording wrong, ask the printer to fix it against your artwork. If the certificate itself is wrong, that’s a question for the issuing PSP. A local reprint can’t change a document someone else issued, and it can’t create a new permission.

If a charge panel adds separate parts into one unexplained total, send it back for clarification before it goes up. The gateway question stays open until IRCTC confirms the current position.

How do you handle a mixed print order?

Say you’ve ordered a sign board, cards and some stationery together. (Again, an example.) Don’t treat the whole order as approved because one proof was. Give each item its own line, attach its own proof, and link the matching reply to it. The ban on the logo at the top of a reservation form stands apart from anything about the sign.

At collection, compare each item with its own proof. If the card wording changed but the sign didn’t, put the changed card to one side until you’ve clarified it. Write down what differed and which item it affected. That way you don’t claim permission for something nobody addressed, and you don’t treat an unchanged item as though it got a new decision. This is a print-control habit. It doesn’t grant any approval.

What records should you keep?

Once the material is settled, keep the exact artwork, the related reply and a private note of what was displayed. Leave customers, tickets and ID documents out of that file. The aim is to identify which version of a board or card was on display if someone questions it later.

Note which reply covered which material. If the card is answered but the advert isn’t, mark the advert as still open. And if your appointment changes, review each item again under the new position.

What if your account stops working?

First check the account status before you decide what your signs should say. A forgotten password doesn’t mean your appointment has ended. And if you’ve had a closure confirmation, don’t ignore it just because the old certificate is still on the wall.

Ask the PSP for the status and any action it wants from you, and keep the reply. While you wait, tell arriving customers which work you can take today. Don’t promise a restoration date or claim an approval you don’t hold. If the appointment has ended, remove any wording that implies you still offer rail services, and keep the accurate information about whatever else you do.

A quick checklist before you order anything

1. Is my authorisation certificate on the wall, and does it show the right shop name and address?
2. Does my sign board carry only wording I can back up, with the gateway question left to IRCTC’s confirmation?
3. Have I asked for approval before putting the logo on cards, letterheads or pamphlets?
4. Do I have prior written permission for any print or press advert?
5. Is the IRCTC logo missing from the top of my reservation application form?
6. Does each material have its own proof, and its own reply on file?
7. Does nothing I print suggest that my shop is IRCTC itself?

If any answer is “no” or “not sure”, pause the order. Reprinting a card costs a little. A sign that claims too much is harder to take back once customers have seen it.

Questions about permission and proof

Who issues my authorisation certificate?

Your PSP does. IRCTC’s agent policy says the PSP issues the certificate and the agent displays it at the outlet. If yours is missing, ask the PSP. For a SiOnline agent, the agent authorisation letter page explains the document.

Is the public PSP entry my shop’s certificate?

No. Use the public entry to verify the listed principal. Keep your retail appointment document separate, and show how it names the principal.

Should the printer decide which railway wording is acceptable?

No. Ask the printer to follow the approved artwork, and leave the permission decision with IRCTC. Don’t let a print template add claims about authority, ticket outcomes or charges that you haven’t verified.

What if the approval email is unclear?

Reply with the complete proposed material and ask exactly which use it covers. Keep the order on hold until you know.

Sources and checks

• IRCTC: Agent Policy, retrieved 18 October 2026.
• IRCTC Authorised Principal Service Providers register, retrieved 18 October 2026.

Facts checked on 18 October 2026. Confirm the applicable rule and account status before acting.