The Ambala division of the Indian Railways on Friday reportedly imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on a catering contractor for charging Rs 5 more than the maximum retail price (MRP) for a packaged drinking water. The fine was charged based on a complaint by a train passenger a day before.
According to the Hindustan Times report, 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.
What is important to note is that the train doesn’t have its own pantry car and has to depend on on-board vendors authorised by IRCTC.
A passenger identified as Shivam Bhatt on Thursday posted a video on Twitter, claiming that the water bottle was being sold to him at Rs 20, despite having an MRP of Rs 15, by a man named Dinesh. The passenger was travelling from Chandigarh to Shahjahanpur on 12232 (Chandigarh-Lucknow) train. Following 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.
Hari Mohan, senior divisional commercial manager, said, “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.”
DRM Bhatia said after receiving a sanction and checking the licence documents, a fine of Rs 1 lakh was imposed on the contractor and the IRCTC RM was informed.
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