There are instances when passengers are needlessly harassed by ticket checkers and wrongly fined. Rarely do people fight against such injustice. Here is a case where Babu Lal Dholpuriya, a railway employee, was surprisingly victimized by his own department and wrongly charged. He appeared in person and fought his case before the National Commission and won.
Case Study: Babu Lal Dholpuriya, a railway employee, was issued a first class railway pass to travel between Jammu Tavi and Mumbai. On April 9, 2008, he used this pass while travelling with his wife from Sawai Madhopur to Kota. The travelling ticket examiner checked (TTE) checked his pass, signed and returned it to him. Later, a vigilance inspector came for checking. He informed Babu that his pass was not valid, and charged him Rs.1,215. Aggrieved, Babu filed a complaint before the district consumer forum against the officials of the West Central Railway and the vigilance officials.
The railways authorities contested the complaint, saying that the vigilance officials had correctly recovered the amount, as neither did the pass mention the description of the journey nor the amount. The authorities claimed the TTE had asked Babu to pay for the travel, but he had refused to do so, had snatched back his pass, and asked to be treated as a ticketless traveller. So he was charged Rs.1,215 and a receipt was issued to him for this amount. According to the railways, Babu himself wanted to make this payment to avoid the consequences of misuse of the railway pass.
The forum dismissed the complaint. Babu appealed to the Rajasthan state commission, which reversed the forum’s order and directed the railways to refund the charge of Rs.1,215 along with interest at 9% p.a. Babu was also awarded Rs.20,000 as compensation and litigation costs of Rs.5,100. The railway authorities then approached the National commission in revision.
The National Commission observed that the railway pass held by Babu was valid for travel between Jammu Tavi and Mumbai. Sawai Madhopur to Kota was part of the same sector. Instead of travelling the entire sector, Babu had used the pass to travel on a part of the same sector. The commission concluded that the sector on which Babu had travelled was included and covered by the pass, and so it would be incorrect to attribute it as a misuse of the pass. The commission also noted that all the required details were mentioned in the pass, which had also been examined and ascertained by the state commission.
In its judgement of September 16, 2015, delivered by Justice V.K. Jain in Revision Petition No. 4213 of 2014, the National Commission held that the amount of Rs.1,215 had been wrongly charged, which constituted a deficiency in service. It upheld the order for a refund of the amount, along with 9% interest and litigation costs. However, the order for payment of compensation was set aside, as he was an employee of the same organization.
Impact: Wrongly charging or fining a passenger is a deficiency in service. An aggrieved consumer can seek redressal by approaching the consumer forum and can claim compensation