E-Paper
Unexplained delays, rodent infestation in AC coach cost Northern Railways dear
The district consumer disputes redressal forum has directed Northern Railways to pay ₹20,000 to a resident of Chandigarh for deficiency in services.
Urging Northern Railways to take lessons in courtesy from railway operator in Japan while dealing with public, the district consumer disputes redressal forum has directed Northern Railways to pay ₹20,000 to a resident of Sector 15 for deficiency in services.
BB Mittal mentioned in complaint that he and his wife planned a trip from Chandigarh to Varanasi, and back. They bought tickets from Northern Railways by paying ₹1,315 and ₹830 respectively.
The train from Varanasi to New Delhi got delayed by over six hours and no reason was given by the railway authorities. Due to this, he and his wife had to wait for a day to catch the next available train.
But that wasn’t the end of problems for Mittal.
During the journey from Varanasi to New Delhi in an AC coach, when Mittal woke up in the morning, he saw his new travelling bag badly bitten by mice in the train. The AC compartment was full of filth, was unhygienic and uncleaned, with mice scampering all around.
The railways, in their reply, stated that the train departed on right time from Rajgir, but got delayed on the way and arrived 355 minutes late at New Delhi mainly due to engineering work on track in Eastern Railways and North Central Railways, which was unavoidable and necessary for safe running of trains.
They further stated that all coaches were properly cleaned and rodent control was carried out in all AC coaches during primary maintenance.
The forum observed, “We are convinced that delay occurred due to engineering work, but the railways has failed to clarify whether the repair of track was to plan in an emergent conditions or was pre-planned.”
It added, “If the repair work was pre-planned, then the railways was under obligation to disclose it on their portal, so that inconvenience to the commuters could be avoided.”
“A Japanese railway operator two years back openly issued apology to the nation for a train departing 20 seconds early, assuming some passengers may have missed the train due to that. Northern Railways should follow suit and take a lesson regarding courtesy when dealing with public, and should come to the rescue of genuine grievances of passengers,” the forum mentioned.
The forum directed railways to pay ₹20,000 towards compensatory and litigation expenses to BB Mittal.
