Rlys lists MPs who don’t turn up after booking tickets

The Indian Railways is preparing a list of about 100 MPs who despite reserving seats on phone do not turn up for journey, thus denying seats to common passengers and leaving the berth unused.

The Indian Railways is preparing a list of about 100 MPs who despite reserving seats on phone do not turn up for journey, thus denying seats to common passengers and leaving the berth unused.

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“The list of such MPs will be sent to Speaker of the Lok Sabha and Chairman of the Rajya Sabha,” an official of the Railway Ministry said.

MPs have been provided with special facility to book train tickets on phone. But, they have to submit requisition form in writing confirming their journey to the authority concerned 24 hours before the journey or within a day of making the call.

They can undertake the journey on such ‘zero-value tickets´ a number of times annually and no payment is made against them.

But during checking by Railways Vigilance Board it has come to light that several MPs despite reserving the berths allegedly do not turn up for travel, as a result the berth goes vacant and a common passenger also misses the chance of getting a confirmed reservation.