Saturday, November 25, 2017

Voice Of A Customer: Overcharged For A Railway Meal, He Raised The Issue And Got His Money Back

Most of us use the railway catering services while travelling in a train. Almost every time we pay the caterers the amount they ask, without actually enquiring about the prices.

On June 5, Monday, Neelabh Khanikar of Dibrugarh, Assam was travelling with his family from Duliajan to Dimapur by train number 13281, New Tinsukia Rajendranagar Patna Express.During the journey, he ordered two plates of egg biryani from the pantry car of the train and was charged Rs 160 (Rs 80 per plate) for the same. He enquired if the price was according to the rate mentioned in the menu card and was told by the seller that it was. Though unconvinced, he paid the amount asked.

Neelabh went to the pantry van later and requested that the menu card is shown to him as he wanted to confirm the price of the biryani. Although reluctant, the pantry card workers handed over the card to him.

To his surprise, he found that the actual price of the biryani was Rs 63. Outraged, he raised his voice against the deceit and demanded that the extra money charged be returned to him and the other passengers.

Neelabh uploaded a video of the same on Facebook, where he can be seen urging the train authorities to give the reason for charging above the price mentioned in the rate card.

This is not the first instance that the railway catering service has charged passengers more than the price of the food mentioned in the rate card.

The Logical Indian had earlier reported another case where a passenger travelling from Visakhapatnam to Howrah in Yesvantpur-Howrah Express was charged Rs 90 for a Rs 50 meal.

Following the regular complaints by passengers of beverages and food being overpriced on trains, the Ministry of Railways had issued a rate card for the catering services on trains.

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu had also reviewed all the catering contracts and instructed that the companies running operations using corrupt and unethical means should be blacklisted.

Though the grievances of the passengers were addressed, it seems the practice still continues.

The Logical Indian urges passengers to always ask for the rate while ordering food on trains. It is essential, as consumers, we do not pay more than the MRP. We also request the Railway Ministry to ensure that such practices are not continued in the future.

BEFORE PLASE THE ORDER CHEQUE THE MENU CARD(IRCTC)

“ I would like to share a incident, that occurred during my journey from Howrah to Satna.

I was traveling in a train. Train was already 10+ hours late. A pantry car employee came to our compartment and asked for dinner order, when we enquired about menu, he simply told there is veg thali that will cost Rs.100/- and it will contain paneer, vegetable, rice, daal and parantha where as non-veg thali will have chicken, roti, rice, daal and vegetable and it will cost Rs.150/-. One of the passenger asked him “I need only 2 rotis and vegetable” and pantry car waiter replied there is no such provision either you take full veg thali or you don’t take that passenger had no option other than opting for veg thali that would cost him Rs. 100/-. Everyone ordered either veg thali or non veg thali even I ordered veg thali.

Suddenly a guy named Prabal sitting next to me asked waiter for menu card, Waiter replied arrogantly “lena ho to lo yeh menu dikhane wali bimar nahi paalte hum” he even said if you want we can give you a normal thali that will cost you Rs.50/-. Guy insisted but waiter opposed it arrogantly and rudely.

Prabal directly called railway helpline number-1800111321 and lodged a complaint regarding this, on seeing the confidence of that guy even I called this number and lodged a complaint. After 30 minutes that waiter came to our seat and gave us menu at that time he was very soft. What surprised us there were no option for thali that will cost you Rs.100/-, yes paneer and chicken curry were mentioned in the menu but those were not the mandatory part of thali.

Anyone can order anything from the menu as per their choice and requirement, i.e. if you need only 2 chapattis and a paneer then you can order only required stuffs, and for it you don’t have to order whole thali. Even if you will order paneer, rice, daal, veg,roti all then also the cost cannot reach up to Rs.100/-. On seeing this we called the manager of the pantry and he asked his employee to take order properly from all the passengers as per their need.

This is the story of every pantry car in India; they will force you to buy everything even if you don’t need it, so friends I will request you all to please ask for menu before ordering anything. If they refuse please call 1800111321 and lodge a complain there. Government has protocol to act as per our complain.

Government has provided us with facility to act against such unethical practices, its our duty to know about the right way and to stand against it.

P.S This post is not about just Rs.100/- , it’s about unethical practices that are going around us, and what we can do against such practices.”

Submitted By – Abhishek Singh

If you too have an inspiring story to tell the world, send us your story at mystory@thelogicalindian.com

Indian Railway Tweets The Actual Prices Of Meals And Beverages On Trains; Know About Them

The Logical Indian Crew

March 22nd, 2017

Representational Image: blogspot

Following the regular complaints by passengers and to promote e-catering activities, the Ministry of Railways has issued a rate card for the catering services on trains. This move has been taken to address the grievances of the passengers after complaints of beverages and food being overpriced on trains flooded on social media.

A conference was held on 21 March with an aim to devise a road-map under the new catering policy.

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is the world’s fourth-largest network. But it fails to impress the travellers by the quality of its services. The Railways provide meals to about 11 lakhs passengers daily, and many enraged passengers have posted complaints about the catering services on social media and other portals available for grievance redressal.

The Logical Indian has been trying to create awareness on the prices of foods provided by IRCTC. You can read one of the articles: My Story: This Is How Caterers Are Scamming Passengers Travelling In Indian Railway.

The rate card has been posted on Twitter account of the Railways where they have also urged the passengers to lodge a complaint if they are overcharged. The rate card will reduce the discrepancies between the rates being charged to the customers and the actual prices.

The tweet said:

Know the rate list of @IRCATERING in the case of any discrepancies must report to @RailMinIndia: We work for you 24×7 (sic),”

A standard non-veg meal will cost Rs 55, and a vegetarian food will cost Rs 50. Breakfast will be priced at Rs 30 and 35 respectively. The IRCTC will also ensure that the food served is freshly cooked, a maximum of two hours before being served.

Indian Railways Provide Rs 10 Lakh Insurance At 92 Paise For Every Booking, Know About It

n the wake of the death of the passengers travelling in the ill-fated Indore-Patna Express, The Logical Indian would like to put forward the importance of the Insurance Cover offered by IRCTC. Out of the 410 tickets booked for Indore-Patna Express on the IRCTC website only 126 passengers opted for insurance. The families of the 78 people will be liable to get an insurance payout.

The IRCTC (Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation) website has started insurance schemes for passengers from September 1, 2016. The passengers who book their tickets through IRCTC website can avail a travel accident cover of Rs 10 lakh by paying a premium of less than Re 1.

Terms:

The scheme is applicable only for Indian Citizens who book their tickets through IRCTC online portal.
The scheme is optional
The premium is 92 paise per passenger inclusive of all taxes.
The facility is provided to all the passengers excluding those travelling by suburban trains.
The passengers can opt for travel insurance cover by booking online irrespective of the travel class.
The scheme does not include children up to 5-years of age and foreign citizens.
It is only applicable to those passengers who have confirmed, RAC and waitlisted tickets.

Details:
The insurance cover also offers compensation of Rs 10 lakh to travellers, nominees, legal heirs in the event of death or total disability. In a case of partial disability, Rs 7.5 lakh will be given as compensation, Rs 2 lakh for hospitalisation expenses and Rs 10,000 for transportation of mortal remains from the place of incident.

The complete details can be found here.

Indian Railways To Pay A Fine Of Rs 75,000 To The Passenger Whose Seat Was Occupied By Others

Delhi’s State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (SCDRC) has asked Indian Railways to pay Rs 75,000 to a passenger after the passenger’s reserved seat was taken by an unauthorised person for most of his journey.

According to NDTV, the ticket checker failed to ensure that the passenger’s seat was not misused by any other people who did not hold a valid ticket.

The SCDRC has upheld the district forum’s order which had asked the Railways to deduct one third of the compensation from the salary of the ticket checker who apparently failed to ensure that the reserved seat of the aggrieved passenger was not used by anyone else.

In his complaint, Vijay Kumar, the wronged passenger, alleged that during his travel by the Dakshin Express in March 2013 from Vishakhapatnam to New Delhi another passenger had availed his reserved seat.

Mr Kumar suffers from knee-joint pain and had booked the lower berth. However, some unauthorised persons had occupied his berth at Bina, Madhya Pradesh. It was alleged that these persons caused a lot of nuisance and inconvenience to Mr Kumar and the other passengers.

Mr Kumar tried to complaint to the TTE, but he was nowhere to be found.

The district forum passed the order after the Railways failed to appear before it saying it was guilty of deficient service.

“The compensation of Rs. 75,000 awarded by the district forum is reasonable and appropriate. The same has been awarded by considering the facts and circumstances of the case,” the bench headed by its president Justice Veena Birbal said.

The Logical Indian community appreciates the stern action taken by the authorities against the miscreants who misbehaved with passengers and took the reserved berth of one of the passengers. These practices take place too often in Indian trains, and strict action against the perpetrators will set a stern example not only against such practices but also for TTEs so that they remain ever vigilant.

Railways To Pay Rs 30,000 Compensation To A Family That Could Not Access Toilet For 90 Minutes

Indian Railways has to pay Rs 30,000 as a compensation to a family which was unable to use washrooms for over an hour as half the passage to the toilets were blocked.

The deputy legal advisor in the ministry of law and justice, Mr Dav Kant, took the Indian Railways to the consumer court claiming that he and his family, wife and two children, encountered mental and physical stress due to inefficient service while travelling from Amritsar to Delhi in 2009.

Seven years of legal battle

Mr Kant had filed a complaint with the district consumer court saying that a big crowd entered into the reserved compartments at Ludhiana Railway station by force and occupied the vacant seats. Those who were unable to accommodate themselves on the seats, adjusted on the compartment floor and blocked the passages towards the washrooms and the washbasins.

After seven years of extensive legal battle, the state consumer forum upheld the decision of the district consumer court to provide the family with a compensation of Rs 30,000.

Harisharan Bagga, Mr Kant’s son who is also an advocate, could not use the washroom for 90 minutes. “The passage was jam packed and the crowd was uncooperative. Also, apart from my father, my sister and my mother were also travelling with us and it was an uncomfortable situation for them as well,” said Mr Bagga to India Today.

The TTE was also brought to notice by the family, but expressing his inability to handle the crowd, he paid no heed.

The counsel for the Northern Railways stated in the court that the crowd was asked to unboard the train at the Ambala station, hence timely action was taken. It also added that the complaint was filed as a means to extort.

However, the court observed that it is the duty of the railways to permit only authorised passengers to travel in trains which it failed to adhere to. “All the unauthorised persons who boarded the train in the large number naturally caused discomfort, harassment and mental agony to the passengers who were traveling on the valid ticket to travel in the reserved coach and the railway officials failed to prevent the entry that amounts to the deficiency in the service on the part of the railway,” said the order.

The Logical Indian acknowledges the decision of the state consumer forum as more than 20 million people travel in trains every day and it is the duty of the railways to ensure that unauthorised persons do not cause an inconvenience to the people who have purchased valid tickets.

An Indian railways customer got compensation of Rs. 7,000 along with ticket and RTI costs on the directives of Consumer court.

An Indian railways customer got compensation of Rs. 7,000 along with ticket and RTI costs on the directives of Consumer court. The compensation was for his suffering due to deficient service by the IRCTC (Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation).

IRCTC is a subsidiary of the Indian Railways. It handles the catering, tourism, and online ticketing operations.

As per The Hindu reports, Gopal Bankatlalji Bajaj, from Kamothe in Navi Mumbai, had booked his train ticket through the IRCTC on May 5, 2013, in Nagpur-Mumbai Express to travel from Amravati to Mumbai.

He had booked the ticket online by paying Rs 300. He received his PNR number and confirmation on his mobile via an SMS from IRCTC. He also got an email confirmation of the train schedule.

However, when he reached at Amravati station at the scheduled time, he was informed that it was late by four-and-a-half hours.

He had to get a general ticket of another train for Rs. 180 to reach his office on time next day. He traveled the entire distance with extreme difficulty in the general (unreserved) compartment.

Later, he complained about the incident to Thane District consumer Redressal Forum.

As he was informed that the train was on time he sought the train running status on an RTI query from the IRCTC headquarters in New Delhi, which informed him that the train was running behind its schedule on that day.

The Consumer court observed that because IRCTC falsely informed that the train was running as per schedule, it has given deficient services to the complainant.

Forum ordered the IRCTC to pay the new ticket cost of Rs 180, and also the Rs 150 RTI cost along with 12 per cent interest from May 5, 2013, to the complainant, along with Rs 5,000 for his sufferings and Rs. 2,000 for his legal expenses.

The Logical Indian applauds the Consumer court’s decision. It gives hope to ensure the quality of services. And this case proves consumers’ voices are heard.

have also faced same problem with irctc. Me and my family had booked a ticket on Ahmadabad -mumbai shatabdi express from Surat to Mumbai for 5july 2016....but @5:15 pm(Surat) we received message that train is not on rails not yet started from source station (Ahmadabad) due to which we were unable to catch konkan kanya express to madgaon from Mumbai @11:15 pm.
And when I filed TDR ....I have received mail from irctc.... falsely claiming that train ran normal on time.

Pls. Guide

I too had filed TDR for a ticket on the same train as it was delayed by more than 4 hours. But got reply after few days that the TDR cannot be processed as train was found to be running on time. I thought it would be tough deal to get justice and would waste lot of time, hence ignored. But now feeling good, at least someone took the pain and got justice.
Actually it was a summer special train used to run only on Sundays. And it never ran on time.