BEFORE THE DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES

REDRESSAL FORUM, JALANDHAR.

Complaint No.470 of 2015

Date of Instt. 03.11.2015

Date of Decision:14.03.2017

Lalit Kumar, Age 34 years S/o Ashok Kumar, r/o H.No.258, Guru Nanakpura(West), Jalandhar Mobile No.9216560491

..........Complainant

Versus

1. Divisional Railway Manager, Northern Railway, Delhi Division Through its Divisional Railway Manager/Authorized Representative.

2. General Manager, Northern Railways, Head Quarter Baroda House, New Delhi Through its General Manager/Authorized Representative.

3. Divisional Railway Manager, Ferozepur Division, Ferozepur Cantt. Through its Divisional Railway Manager/Authorized Representative.

4. Assistant Traffic Manager, Northern Railways, Traffic Accounts office, New Railway Colony, Jalandhar City.

........Opposite parties

Complaint Under Section 12 of the Consumer Protection Act.

Before: Sh. Karnail Singh, (President),

Sh. Parminder Sharma (Member)

Present: Sh. Jai Pal Sharma, Adv. Counsel for complainant.

Sh. GS Kahlon, Adv. Counsel for OP No.1 to 4.

Order

Karnail Singh (President)

1. This complaint presented by complainant, wherein alleged that on 31.10.2015 the complainant purchased three tickets @ Rs.135/- for General Train for going from Delhi to Jalandhar Cantt. Jalandhar and paid Rs.405/- for 3 tickets to opposite party No.1. After receipt the payment of Rs.405/- for three tickets, the opposite party No.1 issued ticket No.3572999 dated 31.10.2015.

2. That after 15 minutes from the purchase of above said ticket, it was announced by the opposite party No.1 that the train No.04411 for going to Katra via Jalandhar Cantt. Jalandhar has arrived at Railway Station Delhi, so, all the passengers be ready to occupy their seats in the train. As per announcement, the complainant alongwith his two friends entered in the said train and took their seats. Immediately the train departed from Delhi to Jalandhar Cantt. Jalandhar. That on 01.11.2015 when the train reached near Panipat, the Ticket Checker checked the above ticket of complainant and told the complainant that the ticket purchased by complainant is not valid for this train as train is Special Train but the ticket has been purchased for General Train. This fact was neither revealed by opposite party No.1 nor at any other Railway Stations in the way. But the complainant caught that train which was announced by opposite party No.1 at Delhi Railway Station after purchase of above said ticket. The Ticket Checker forcibly charged Rs.3225/- as extra fare and Rs.3225/- as fine from complainant vide their receipt No.208942. As such the opposite party No.1 charged from complainant the sum of Rs.6855/- from complainant for three tickets for the journey from Delhi to Jalandhar Cantt. Jalandhar.

3. That on reaching Jalandhar Cantt. Jalandhar the complainant gave a complaint to opposite party No.1 through their branch office Jalandhar Cantt. for charging of exorbitant fare and fine in the way. But the opposite party No.4 neither looked into the matter nor taken any action. When the complainant reached home he searched the online site of Fare Enquiry pertaining to Indian Railways Passenger Reservation Enquiry. To his great surprise the online fare enquiry revealed that if any passenger travel by said Train the total fare is Rs.230/- per passenger from Delhi to Jalandhar Cantt. Jalandhar but the OPs charged Rs.6855/- alongwith fine and as such the OPs have played unfair trade practice and negligence and deficiency in service and as such the present complaint is filed with the prayer that the OPs be directed to refund the excess charged fare and fine and further to pay Rs.3300/- as cost of litigation and to pay Rs.90000/- as compensation for mental tension and harassment.

4. Notice of the complaint was given to the opposite parties and accordingly opposite parties No.1 to 4 appeared through their counsel Sh. GS Kahlon, Adv who took number of dates for filing written reply including cost but ultimately failed to pay the cost as well as written reply and lastly the OPs No.1 to 4 was debarred from filing written reply and then thereafter case was fixed for complainant evidence and later on OPs No.1 to 4 filed an application for joining the proceedings which was allowed.

5. In order to prove his case, complainant himself tendered into evidence his duly sworn affidavit Ex.CA alongwith some documents Ex. C1 to Ex.C7 and closed the evidence.

6. We have heard the complainant in person and learned counsel for the opposite parties and also gone through the case file very minutely.

7. Precisely the claim of the complainant is that the complainant alongwith his two friends purchased three tickets @ 135/- for General Train for going from Delhi to Jalandhar Cantt. Jalandhar and paid Rs.405/- and ticket No.3572999 dated 31.10.2015, the same is proved on the file by Ex.C1 but on the way i.e. 01.11.2015, the Ticket Checker checked the ticket of the complainant and told the complainant that the ticket is not valid for this train as train is Special Train but the ticket has been purchased for General Train and accordingly he recovered the actual fare of the said special train Rs.3225/- and fine Rs.3225/- in total Rs.6450/- and thereafter the complainant made a complaint to OP but no action has been taken and ultimately the complainant checked the online site of Fare Enquiry pertaining to Indian Railways Passenger Reservation Enquiry and find that the total fare is Rs.230/- per passenger from Delhi to Jalandhar Cantt. Jalandhar of the said train and to prove this factum the complainant produced on file Ex.C4 the copy of the one side fare from Delhi to Jalandhar Cantt. Jalandhar.

8. We have taken into consideration and documents and find that the complainant himself not aware for which train he got the ticket whether it is train No.04411 or some one else rather the complainant himself stated that he got the ticket for General Train whereas train No.04411 is not a General Train its destination is Delhi to Katra means it is Express Train and this factum establishes from the documents placed on file by the complainant himself as Ex.C7 whereby he sought information from Railway Department through RTI wherein categorically mentioned in para No.1 that Train No.04411 Suvidha Express is fully reserved train and there is no provision of General Ticket. So, it means that the ticket purchased by the complainant is for General Train if so then why he sit in a Suvidha Express Train which is Super Fast Train and obviously there is difference of charges of General Train and Express Train. The charges of the Suvidha Express Train having No.04411 is Rs.1075/- in Sleeper Class from Delhi to Jalandhar Cantt and these factum has been also established on the file by placing on file a document Ex.C8 issued by Railway Department.

9. Now coming to the controversy as put forth by the complainant that the one side fare from Delhi to Jalandhar Cantt. Jalandhar is Rs.230/- as he get from a copy from Online site of the fare inquiry of Indian Railway Passenger Reservation Enquiry and that document is Ex.C4. We have gone through the said document and find that the exact fare is not mentioned in the said document rather base fare is mentioned i.e. Rs.230/- so even if we see the case of the complainant from the angle of Ex.C4 even the complainant is not entitled to travel in the Train bearing No.04411 i.e. Suvidha Express Train because the base fair of this train is Rs.230/- the complainant had purchased ordinary tickets @ Rs.135/- per ticket. So, it means complainant alongwith his two friends sit in wrong train intentionally just to reach Jalandhar so fastly.

10. Further more the complainant alleged that the Ticket Checker has charges excess amount of fine as well as charges of the ticket of Suvidha Express Train bearing No.04411 but there is document placed on the file by complainant himself as Ex.C8 wherein the rate of the per ticket of one Sleeper Class is Rs.1075/- and if multiplied by three then it comes to Rs.3225/-. So, accordingly we find that the Ticket Checker has not charges excess fare from the complainant so far the question of charging fine is concerned the same is also within the preview of Ticket Checker because if the complainant and his co-traveler had gotten the ticket from Ticket Checker at Railway Station of Delhi, when counter of the ticket was closed, then the Ticket Checker issue the ticket to the complainant and other passengers on the basic fare but the complainant and his friends fraudulently travel in a wrong train and lesser price ticket took just to defraud the OP, when they caught red handed on the next date at Panipat then they claim that the Ticket Checker cannot claim fine from them but the document Ex.C6 produced on the file by the complainant itself shows and establish that the Ticket Checker can permit the passenger to get Suvidha Train in case vacant accommodation is still available after the stopping of booking at current reservation counter. So, it means the complainant and his friends did not get the ticket of Suvidha Train prior to proceeding from Delhi and therefore the fine imposed by the Ticket Checker also within his preview. So, all the documents produced by the complainant itself disprove the case of the complainant and therefore we find that there is no deficiency, unfair trade practice or negligence on the part of the OPs. Therefore we do not find any force in the submission made by the complainant himself and therefore the complaint of the complainant stands dismissed. Complaint could not be decided within stipulated time frame due to rush of work.

11. Copies of the order be supplied to the parties free of cost, as per Rules. File be indexed and consigned to the record room

Dated Parminder Sharma Karnail Singh

14.03.2017 Member President