Exclusive: Railways Make A Windfall Of Rs 700-900 cr From Passengers Who Miss Their Trains

Every day, an average 45,000 to 50,000 passengers with confirmed reservations miss boarding their trains across the country, giving the Indian Railways a windfall of Rs 2.5 crore daily, or anywhere between Rs 700 to 900 crore annually.

This revelation came in response to an RTI application to the Ministry of Railway.

The data suggests that about 18 lakh to 20 lakh people travel against confirmed reservations in the country every day, out of which about 45,000 to 50,000, or 2.5 per cent, fail to report on time.

A zonal-wise break-up of 2017 data shows that West Central Railway zones recorded the highest percentage, i.e., 4.2 while the North Eastern Railway had the lowest 바카라� 1.3 per cent 바카라� of such passengers.

바카라�When people don바카라�t report to the Travel Ticket Examiner (TTE) in the train against their reservations after it departs from the station, he makes a list of such people as 바카라�not reported바카라� and submits it to the commercial department of the respective divisions,바카라� informs a railway official.

He further says that the respective zones maintain the data for six months with details of the individuals who miss their trains. However, the absolute number is sent to Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) which archives the same.

Talking about the rules regarding 바카라�not reported바카라� or 바카라�not turned up바카라� berths, a train ticket examiner says that first priority is given to RAC (reservation against cancellation) passengers.

바카라�If there is no RAC passenger, then we allot the berth to passengers on the waiting list,바카라� he says.

He adds, 바카라�Sometimes if there is no passenger with the 바카라�waiting status바카라�, we allot it to someone who is travelling without reservation or without ticket etc.

So different situations emerge and we deal with it as per the rules.바카라�

TTEs admit that vacant berths often become good source of additional income for them as passengers are ready to bribe them in getting priority in allotment.

Senior officials from various railway zones agree that the number would have been higher if all the trains ran on right time. 바카라�Delay in departure saves many people,바카라� admits an official from East Central Railway.

They also admit that people who miss their trains turn out to be a huge money spinner for railway.

바카라�According to a rough estimation, railways바카라� daily earning from such passengers is over 2.5 crore due to the change in the refund rule in 2015,바카라� says an official from CRIS.

Before 2015, a passenger could claim 50 per cent of refund up to 2 hours before actual departure of the train but on November 12, 2015, the new rules was implemented according to which a passenger can claims 50 per cent of refund between 12 hours and 4 hours before the scheduled departure of the train.

바카라�We depart from the rule and consider refund in such cases where people have missed their trains due to unforeseen circumstances such as natural calamity, flood, some violent political protest leading to jam etc,바카라� informs a railway official.