A consumer court in Bihar has held Indian Railways responsible for not providing confirmed seats to passengers in the train. Bhojpur District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has ordered the Railways to pay compensation to four passengers who had to complete the journey standing despite having confirmed tickets. According to a report, the commission admitted that due to the negligence of the Railways, the passengers had to suffer 'mental, physical and financial problems'.

Passengers' allegation: Railway staff had occupied our seats.

According to reports, the incident took place on the LTT-Patna Express, when the passengers were traveling from Vindhyachal in Uttar Pradesh's Mirzapur district to Arrah in Bihar. The complaint states that when the four passengers boarded the train, they saw that railway employees were sitting on their confirmed seats. Passengers claim that they repeatedly asked the staff to vacate their seats, but they were not listened to. Ultimately, they were left with no other option but to travel standing. Later, these passengers approached the Consumer Commission for justice.

Court order: Return the ticket money and also give compensation

The bench comprising commission chairman Krishna Pratap Singh and member Kamal Kishore Singh gave the verdict in favor of the passengers after examining all the evidence and documents. The commission directed the North Central Railway and the Railway Ministry to refund Rs 1,876.80 of the ticket amount to the passengers along with 8 per cent annual interest. Apart from the ticket refund, the Railways has also been ordered to pay Rs 20,000 as compensation for the inconvenience caused to passengers and Rs 15,000 as legal expenses. The court also made it clear that if this amount is not paid within 60 days, the passengers will be entitled to recover it through legal action along with 10 percent annual interest.

There was no hearing on complaints during the journey

According to the complaint, the passengers had tried to seek help during the journey itself on the railway helpline and social media platforms, such as 'Railway Seva' and 'Railway Ministry' channels. He got the reference number of his complaint through SMS, but no concrete action was taken on his problem while he was in the train. Passengers also claimed that when they raised the issue with a Traveling Ticket Examiner (TTE) at Buxar station, they were allegedly asked to "manage" citing the huge crowd in the train.

Railways refused to accept its mistake

During the hearing, the Railways argued that the matter is related to law and order, hence it falls under the jurisdiction of the Government Railway Police (GRP). Railway officials denied any deficiency in service and claimed that appropriate action had already been taken on the complaint. However, after examining the tickets, complaint records, text messages and photographs submitted by the passengers, the Commission came to the conclusion that the passengers were indeed denied their reserved seats.