How to Change Your Mobile Number & Email on IRCTC

You changed your phone number last year, or you lost the old SIM, or you just want railway messages going to a different email. Now you’re staring at your IRCTC account wondering how to update it. Good news: if you can still get the OTP sent to your old details, it takes a few minutes.

First, which account are we talking about? This post is about a personal IRCTC account, the one you use to book your own family’s tickets. It’s a different thing from an agent ID, and the two get mixed up all the time. If you’re an agent trying to change the number on your agent login, that’s a separate process, and there’s a guide on the OTP mobile number for agent logins too.

Where is the setting?

On IRCTC’s own site, signed in to your account, the path is commonly described as:

My Account → My Profile → Update Profile → Edit Mobile & Email

This path was not checked against IRCTC’s live screen for this edit, and menus move around. If yours doesn’t match, look for Update Profile under My Account and follow what you see on your own screen.

Here’s the rule that trips most people up. The change is verified by OTP, and the OTP goes to the number and email currently on the account, not to the new ones. It’s easy to assume the code will go to the new number, since that’s the one you’re trying to add. It won’t. That’s why people get stuck.

What should you have ready before you start?

A little preparation saves a lot of annoyance. Check these before you open the page:

• The old SIM is in a phone that has signal, and the phone is switched on and near you.
• You can open the old email inbox, not just remember the address.
• The new number is active and can receive an SMS.
• You can open the new email inbox too, because you’ll be asked to verify it.
• You’re on your own phone or computer. Don’t do this on a shared machine at a cyber cafe, where someone could see your details or leave you signed in.

Give yourself five quiet minutes. Don’t try it while you’re in the middle of booking a ticket.

What if you can still receive the old OTP?

1. Sign in at irctc.co.in.
2. Go to My Account → My Profile → Update Profile.
3. Choose to edit the mobile number, the email, or both.
4. Enter the new details.
5. Enter the OTP sent to the existing number and email.
6. Verify the new number and email when prompted.

If an OTP doesn’t turn up, check the signal on your phone and look in the inbox before you ask for another one. Type the code carefully, one digit at a time.

Do all this while you still have the old SIM, not after you’ve thrown it away.

Afterwards, don’t just close the tab. Sign out and sign back in to confirm the new details took. Then check that a booking OTP arrives on the new number before you rely on it on a travel day. A change that looks done but doesn’t deliver the OTP is a bad surprise at the station. And if you’ve used the old email for other railway correspondence, update it there too.

What if you can’t receive the old OTP?

This is where most people searching this topic actually are, and to be straight about it, there’s no trick that gets round it. The account is protected by exactly the thing you no longer control.

IRCTC holds the account. Your travel agent doesn’t, and neither does any service provider. So recovery goes through IRCTC’s own customer support, with identity verification. Be ready to prove who you are, and explain which details are on the account now and which you want on it.

When you contact IRCTC’s support, have your notes ready. Your user ID, the email and number now on the account, the new ones you want, and roughly when you last used the account. Write down the date and time of each contact and any reference you’re given. If you have to call again, you won’t be starting from nothing. Keep all of this to yourself and IRCTC’s support. Don’t post screenshots of your account in a group chat.

Now, a warning. Do not hand over a password to anybody, for any reason, including someone who says they work for IRCTC. Anyone offering to change your registered mobile number for a fee is asking for credentials you shouldn’t share. A shop, an agent or a stranger on a call can’t do this on your behalf. It doesn’t matter how confident they sound or how small the fee is.

If a call or message pushes you to act fast, stop. A genuine process doesn’t need your password. Close the call and go to IRCTC’s own site yourself.

Why does this matter if you want to become an agent?

Some people land on this page not because they care about their personal account, but because an agent registration got stuck. Here’s why.

On SiOnline’s current registration documents page, a mobile number, an email address and a PAN can each sit on one IRCTC account only. If you registered a personal account years ago, those details may already be committed. The same page says an agent registration can’t complete until that is resolved, and there are two ways to do it:

• Change the details on the old personal account using the steps above, which frees them up, or
• Use a different number and email for the agent registration.

Which one is better for you? It depends on what you want to keep. If the old number is the one your family uses for booking OTPs, you might prefer to give the agent registration its own new number and email. If you’re giving up the old number anyway, changing the personal account first is neater. Either way, decide before you apply, not after.

Here’s a simple way to sort it out:

1. Write down the mobile number, email and PAN you plan to use for the agent registration.
2. Ask yourself honestly whether any of them has ever been used on an IRCTC account, even one you stopped using years ago.
3. If the answer is yes or maybe, pick one of the two options above.
4. Tell the provider about the old account when you enquire, so you’re not guessing.

Why bother? Because SiOnline’s Standard registration fee is non-refundable. Finding this out after paying is an expensive way to learn it. The full checklist is on documents required for IRCTC agent registration. For the PAN side, see releasing a PAN from an old IRCTC ID. To compare the two kinds of account, read IRCTC agent ID vs personal ID.

What mistakes slow people down?

These come up again and again.

• Switching off the old SIM first. Once it’s gone, the OTP has nowhere to land. Change the details first, then retire the SIM.
• Expecting the code on the new number. It goes to the details currently on the account, so keep the old ones reachable until the change is done.
• Not testing afterwards. A change that looks complete is only complete when a booking OTP reaches your new phone.
• Using a stranger as a go-between. Handing your login to someone who “knows how to do it” puts your whole account at risk.
• Applying to be an agent before checking. If your number, email or PAN is tied up on an old personal account, the agent registration can’t finish. Sort it out first.

Say you’re a shop owner who made a personal IRCTC account years ago. You now want to register as an agent, using the same mobile number and email you’ve always had. Before paying anyone, you’d list the three details, remember the old account, and choose: free them up by changing the personal account, or use a new number and email for the agent registration. Either choice works on its own terms. Paying first and choosing later is the one that costs you.

Questions people ask

Does the OTP go to my new number?

No. It goes to the number and email currently on the account. Once the change goes through, the new details are the ones on the account. That’s why you should check that an OTP arrives on the new number before you depend on it.

I lost my old SIM. What now?

Contact IRCTC’s customer support. They hold the account and they’re the only ones who can do the identity check. Don’t pay anyone who says they can swap the number for you.

Can I use the same mobile number for my personal account and an agent registration?

On SiOnline’s current registration documents page, no: a mobile number, email and PAN can each sit on one IRCTC account only. Change the personal account’s details first, or use different ones for the agent registration.

Does the menu path match what I see?

It might not. IRCTC changes its screens from time to time. Look for Update Profile under My Account and follow your own screen.

If you’re stuck

If the problem is an agent ID rather than a personal account, see IRCTC agent login or contact us. If it’s a personal account and you’ve lost access to the old number, it’s IRCTC’s support you need. We’ll say so plainly rather than take a fee for a call we can’t make on your behalf.