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.