A day after a train passenger complained of being sold packaged drinking water for Rs. 5 more than the MRP, the Ambala railway division on Friday imposed a fine of Rs. 1 lakh on a catering contractor for overcharging.
The fine has been imposed on M/s Chandra Mauli Mishra of Uttar Pradesh’s Gonda, a licensed contractor with the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) for train number 12231/32 (Lucknow-Chandigarh-Lucknow), officials from the commercial branch of the division said.
The train doesn’t have its own pantry car and depends on onboard vendors authorized by IRCTC. Mishra was awarded the contract by IRCTC on December 1 this year. It was extended twice to end on the last round trip of the train in Lucknow on December 17.
On Thursday, Shivam Bhatt, a passenger traveling from Chandigarh to Shahjahanpur on the 12232 (Chandigarh-Lucknow) train posted a video on Twitter, claiming that the water bottle was being sold to him at ₹20, despite having an MRP of Rs. 15, by a man named Dinesh. Soon after the complaint, Dinesh’s manager Ravi Kumar was arrested in Lucknow under Section 144 (1) of the Railways Act and the commercial branch made a recommendation to divisional railway manager (DRM) Mandeep Singh Bhatia to impose a fine.
“The regional manager (RM) of IRCTC was summoned to Ambala and informed about the case. It was also discussed how to improve on train-side vending and overcharging complaints,” said Hari Mohan, senior divisional commercial manager.
Speaking to HT, DRM Bhatia said after receiving a sanction and checking the license documents, a fine of Rs. 1 lakh was imposed on the contractor and the IRCTC RM was informed. “Over 1000 unauthorized vendors have been prosecuted in the division since April 1 this year to curb overcharging. A 15-day special drive has also been launched for concerted action against overcharging in coordination with RPF and other staff,” he added.