Failure in preventing unauthorised entry in reserved train compartments and issuing wrongly-dated tickets has once again landed the Railways in trouble and it would be coughing up more money as compensation to harassed passengers.
The Ministry of Railways has been directed by the New Delhi Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum to pay Rs.75,000 in compensation to V. Vijay Kumar whose travel on a reserved seat from Vishakhapatnam to New Delhi on March 30, 2013, was disrupted by some drunk men who grabbed his seat while he remained standing despite suffering from excruciating knee-joint pain.
The Forum’s bench comprising president C. K. Chaturvedi and members S. R. Chaudhary and Ritu Garodia also noted that there was no TTE or Railway official available when the inebriated men made unauthorised entry at a station in Madhya Pradesh and inconvenienced the passengers by their uncouth behaviour.
Holding that “the complainant in spite of paying a higher price for reservation was unable to benefit from the undisturbed enjoyment of his reserved berth,” the Forum directed Rs.25,000 to be deducted from the salary of TTE who was deputed in the compartment on the date of journey in question for payment to the complainant as it noted that a major responsibility cast on the TTE in addition to examining the tickets was of ensuring that no intruders entered the reserved compartment.
In another case, the Forum found the Railways guilty of issuing a wrongly dated ticket to one Nathu Ram Goya and directed it to pay up Rs.10,000 as compensation.
Mr. Goya had booked tickets from New Delhi to Gangsar Jaitu in Punjab for October 1, 2012, and a return ticket for the next day in first A/C. On his return journey, he realised that the return ticket had been wrongly issued for January 2, 2013, consequently making his travel without reservation.
“The complainant being advanced in age had to undergo severe persecution, harassment and discomfort when he found himself with a wrongly dated ticket. He was accused in open court of wasting the time of Forum,” the Forum held.
