Malappuram: A Bengaluru-based techie from Malappuram took Indian Railways to consumer court and won Rs 30,000 after officials failed to remove ticketless passengers from his reserved berth during an overnight journey home.
The Malappuram District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission ordered Railways to pay Rs 25,000 as compensation and Rs 5,000 for legal expenses to Jemsheed Thaikkat of Kottakkal for “deficiency in service, unfair trade practice,” and causing him “inconvenience and hardship.”
Jemsheed said the order, issued on January 20, gave Railways a month to comply. If it failed, a 12% annual interest would apply until payment. “Railways hasn’t paid yet. I personally mailed copies of the order to Palakkad Railway Division, Bangalore Railway Division, and IRCTC, which issued the Tatkal ticket. Now, I’m planning legal action — I have all the documents,” said the techie, who is also an information activist. “Train passengers should hold the Railways accountable, particularly because it is a monopoly. People should know they can sue the Railways even if mosquitoes bite them at stations.”
The internet is flooded with images of overcrowded general compartments and reserved ticket holders forced to stand as unreserved and ticketless passengers overrun sleeper class. But Jemsheed refused to accept it as just another travel woe.
He booked a Tatkal ticket to travel on the Yesvantpur-Kannur Express to Tirur near Kottakkal on April 25. When he boarded at Yesvantpur, five unreserved passengers were squatting on his berth. They refused to move. “It was the eve of the Lok Sabha election, and people were heading home to vote,” he said.
A seasoned traveller, Jemsheed sought help from the Railway Police, who tried contacting the Train Ticket Examiner (TTE). “The TTE deliberately avoided S1 because it was next to the general compartment,” he said.
Jamsheed then called 139, the railway helpline, but found it useless. He then tried the Rail Madad app but it wasn’t helpful either. “Each complaint was closed with a false ‘issue resolved’ remark,” he said.
Jemsheed spent the night standing. When he reached Tirur on April 26, after a gruelling 10-hour journey, he filed a complaint with the station master. With no response, he escalated it to IRCTC, the Palakkad Railway Division, and the Bangalore Railway Division.
With the Railways ignoring him, he approached the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission on August 8, seeking Rs 4 lakh in compensation.
At the first hearing, advocates for Palakkad Railway Division and IRCTC appeared. IRCTC claimed it was only responsible for ticketing. At the same time, Palakkad Railway Division argued that the TTE was from the Bangalore Division and that it had no records of the unauthorised passengers. The Bangalore Division, despite being a respondent, did not appear. “There were five hearings. I attended all of them. Railways did not send its counsels for the fourth and fifth hearings,” he said.
The commission — led by president Mohandasan K and members Preethi Sivaraman C and Mohammed Ismayil — rejected Railways’ argument that the complaint was defective because Bangalore Division did not appear. It ruled that Indian Railways is responsible for ensuring a safe and convenient journey and providing reserved berths to ticketed passengers.
Kannur railway station. File Photo: Manorama
“The complainant reached out to Railways, but there was no proper response or service. This amounts to a deficiency in service. Moreover, when a complaint is registered, it is the duty of Railways to redress the grievance. Instead, they merely cited non-joinder of parties and failed to submit an affidavit. This is a clear case of deficiency in service and unfair trade practice,” the commission ruled.
Jemsheed was particularly outraged at how the Railways systematically fleeced Tatkal customers by issuing wait-listed tickets without their consent. “When we proceed to payment, a few Tatkal seats appear available. But when the ticket is generated, it’s waitlisted,” he said.
The Railways clears general waitlists before considering Tatkal waitlists, so Tatkal waitlists rarely get confirmed, he said. “Yet they charge a hefty cancellation fee for these waitlist tickets — tickets we wouldn’t have bought if we knew there were no seats left,” he said.
According to an RTI reply he got in January 2024, the Railways earned a staggering Rs 6,113.80 crore from cancellation charges in four years (2019-2020 to 2022-2023).
It made Rs 1,229.85 crore from cancelled waitlisted tickets alone between January 2021 and January 2024, according to another RTI reply to activist Vivek Pandey from Madhya Pradesh.
A simple software tweak could prevent money from being debited when Tatkal tickets are unavailable, said Jemsheed, a mechanical engineer turned software developer.