While travelling by outstation trains, many of us opt for meals onboard. These may be provided by different vendors, depending on existing agreements between them and the railways. Recently, IRCTC (Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation) received criticism online when they were accused of overcharging passengers for a veg thali. The incident was narrated by an X user on the social media platform and she also tagged the IRCTC, asking them to address the grievance. In the X post, user @ruchikokcha has explained how she was travelling with her family on a Delhi-bound train when the incident happened.
The group had a total of ten seats and wanted to order dinner. According to her, the IRCTC representative onboard informed them that the veg thali costs Rs. 150. Next, she states that “We clearly told him we would need the bill. When he brought the bill he bifurcated the amount into two components veg thali- Rs. 80 + paneer sabji Rs. 70 = Rs. 150. We asked him to make the bill only for veg thali as we ordered just that. He kept arguing with us for an hour that this is how the bill is prepared.” She revealed that after an hour, another official arrived and told them that he cannot provided them the bill they requested earlier. Instead, they offered to bill them for a veg thali priced Rs. 80, saying “aap itna hi pay kar do”. [“You only pay this much”]
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The X user added, “Clearly the staff is looting the public by giving the meal overpriced and then adding other components to the bill. Please look into this as this kind of behaviour is tarnishing the image of Indian Railways.”
Dear @IRCTCofficial I was travelling from Patna to Delhi In Brahmaputra exp train no 15658 coach M2 (8dec) with my family. We had a total of 10 seats. We ordered dinner. The IRCTC dinner person told us the price of veg thali to be ₹150. We clearly told him we will need the bill.…
— ruchi kokcha (@ruchikokcha) December 9, 2023
The authorities promptly responded to the issue. Railway Seva first requested her, “Ma’am, kindly share PNR and mobile number preferably in Direct Message (DM) – IRCTC Official”. This was in reply to her post. IRCTC later wrote, “Ma’am, thanks for highlighting the matter it is viewed seriously. A hefty penalty has been imposed on service provider. Also, the concerned licensee staff involved in overcharging has been deboarded.”
Ma’am, thanks for highlighting the matter it is viewed seriously. A hefty penalty has been imposed on service provider . Also, the concerned licensee staff involved in overcharging has been deboarded.
— IRCTC (@IRCTCofficial) December 9, 2023
The original X post has received more than 398K views within less than 12 hours of it being shared. Read how people reacted below:
Really this is a good initiative, not many bother but actually they allow the injustice to continue but by taking it up you are trying to get the wrong stopped and at least in future people won’t be robed. ??
— ncsukumar (@ncsukumar1) December 9, 2023
Proud of you Ruchi! This is what we need as an empowered social media community! and thank you to the social media management of @IRCTCofficial for prompt action. it builds trust …!
— Akassh Ashok Gupta (@peepoye_) December 9, 2023
Well done @ruchikokcha. Only when we voice out the concerns the issues will get resolved.
Also thanks to @IRCTCofficial for taking prompt actions
— Vignesh (@visumurugan) December 9, 2023
Bill should be part of delivery and not to ask for it seperately. @IRCTCofficial please implement it.
— Rakesh Mishra?? (@Rakesh4045) December 9, 2023
Good you asked for bill. It’s regular for them to cheat passengers.
Even TT has a complaint book to lodge complain.
You were aware u asked but many don’t bother for bill.— Kanchan Singh (@kanchansingh_23) December 9, 2023
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