Railways asked to refund travellers for wrong fine

Sanjeev Singh Bariana

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 16

The Punjab State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has asked the Railways to refund the amount charged as the cost of tickets (Rs 6,500), besides fine, from a group of Ferozepur travellers whose name did not figure in the list of the a TTE who checked their documents en route Nanded in March 2015.

The travellers had all documents for their confirmed booking before they started and also showed their documents to a TTE at Ferozepur. The list of the TTE at Jhansi did not have their names and the group was fined. The order signed by president of the commission Justice (retd) Paramjeet Singh Dhaliwal and member Kiran Sibal upheld the order of the district forum (Ferozepur) saying that the name of the travellers had gone missing from the list of the TTE because of “may be the fault of the computer system.”

Turning down the appeal of the Railways, the commission has asked it to refund the amount (Rs 6,500) along with 9% interest from the date of complaint till the date of actual payment, besides Rs 10,000 as compensation and Rs 3,000 as litigation charges. The TTE had charged Rs 918 as the cost per ticket and Rs 382 as fine.

Malkit Singh of Ferozepur, had booked tickets for his family and relatives on Punjab Mail for travelling to Nanded in Maharashtra on March 17, 2015. Tickets checked at Ferozepur Cantonment by the TTE were found to be in order. En route, another TTE checked the list and found that the name of the passengers did not figure in his list. Malkit was asked to pay Rs 6,500. He approached the forum, which ordered the refund along with compensation.

Illegally charged: Consumer panel

• A group of travellers from Ferozepur had all documents for their confirmed booking before they started and also showed their documents to a TTE at Ferozepur.  The list of the TTE at Jhansi did not have their names and the group was fined. 
• The Punjab State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission said the name of the complainant not in the list of the TTE at Jhansi “may be the fault of the computer system of the opposite parties”. The commission upheld that the money was “wrongly and illegally charged”.