Railway body bans 15 imposter e-catering websites

IRCTC has been getting hundreds of complaints about the fake e-catering portals: in the west zone alone, around 300 to 400 complaints pertain to these. Passengers have reported issues ranging from non-delivery of meals and poor food quality to refund disputes and lack of customer support.

MUMBAI: As many as 15 e-catering websites have been banned after the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) came across fake portals that were posing as its official partners and delivering food to long-distance train passengers. The issue is particularly significant for Mumbai, where thousands of passengers board long-distance trains every day from its many terminuses.

Railway body bans 15 imposter e-catering websites

IRCTC has been getting hundreds of complaints about the fake e-catering portals: in the west zone alone, around 300 to 400 complaints pertain to these. Passengers have reported issues ranging from non-delivery of meals and poor food quality to refund disputes and lack of customer support.

IRCTC has initiated legal and criminal proceedings against such 15 websites, including railrestro.com, railmitra.com, comesum.com, travelkhana.com, trainscafe.com and railmeal.com among others. Legal notices were issued in February this year, followed by criminal complaints in March and April.

“The search engine shows up these unregistered websites claiming to be e-catering platforms for IRCTC,” said a senior official from IRCTC. “But the food is not from our cloud kitchens nor are the brands associated with us. The food the fake websites supply could be of poor quality since our staff does not check it. Also, it may come from kitchens that do not comply with Food Safety and Standards Authority of India norms, posing potential health risks.”

With train food delivery becoming increasingly popular, officials fear that unsuspecting passengers could easily be misled by websites claiming to be linked with IRCTC. As of April, IRCTC’s e-catering service is available at more than 400 railway stations and handles an average of over 1,55,000 meal bookings daily across the country. “Of these, one-third cater to passengers in the west zone alone,” said a IRCTC official.

The platform works with more than 6,200 vendors and food aggregators, among them brands such as Behrouz Biryani, McDonald’s, Bikanerwala, Biryani Blues, Biryani by Kilo, Domino’s, Faasos, Firangi Bake, Haldiram, KFC, La Pinoz Pizza, Lunchbox, Oven Story, Pizza Hut and Sweet Truth. IRCTC has advised passengers to order meals only through its official e-catering website, the Food on Track mobile app, the 1323 helpline or authorised partner platforms.