Sri Shyamal Gupta, Member

This Appeal is directed against the Order dated 14-09-2015 passed by the Ld. District Forum, Kolkata-II (Central) in C. C. No. 247/2015 whereof the complaint has been allowed.  Being aggrieved by and dissatisfied with the same, OP thereof has preferred this Appeal.

Case of the Complainant, in short, is that he booked a railway ticket through the OP.  Initially, it was not a confirmed ticket.  However, subsequently the same got confirmed.  On the scheduled day of journey, when he reached the railway station, to his utter surprise, he came to know that the train got cancelled.  In fact, on enquiry, he learnt that the said train was not running for the past fifteen days.  Since he was supposed to catch a flight from Jammu the very next day, left with no other choice, he had to book a private car to reach Jammu in time.  By sending letter to the OP, the Complainant asked for refunding the price of the railway ticket, but the OP did not bother to send any reply, let alone refund the price of the railway ticket.  Hence, the case.

The OP did not contest the case before the Ld. District Forum despite due service of notice upon it.  So, the case was heard and decided ex parte against it.

Decision with reasons         

Ld. Advocate appearing on behalf of the Appellant disputed the case over non-joinder of parties.  It is argued by the Ld. Advocate that it only provides access to railway passenger reservation system through its server and internet connectivity to book the ticket through it and it has no role in the matter of running of trains, functions and working of TTE’s deputed on trains and the station staff which are exclusively controlled by the Indian Railways.  It is further argued that so far as ticketing is concerned and in deciding refunds to the passengers, it is absolutely within the domain of the Railways and as soon as an internet ticket is issued, fare gets transferred to Railways.  On receipt of refund amount from Railways, it is credited to the same account of the user through which booking was made through opted payment gateway.  The Ld. Advocate further pointed out that no TDR was filed by the Respondent to claim refund of the fare online with the Appellant as required under the terms and conditions of refund of fares.  Issues regarding running and cancellation of train concerned remained within the exclusive domain of the Northern Railways and therefore, according to the Ld. Advocate, Northern Railways was a necessary party to the case.  By excluding it from the case, the complaint earned the demerits of non-joinder of necessary party and thus, the complaint is not sustainable in the eye of law.

It is not in dispute that the Respondent booked the ticket through the Appellant.  It is also not in dispute that the ticket in question got confirmed though initially it was in the waiting list. 

The moot point for consideration is whether there was any deficiency in service on the part of the Appellant.

It appears from the Revised Refund Rules of the Indian Railways that has come into effect from 12-11-2015 that, in case of cancellation of trains for e-tickets, w.e.f. 01-07-2015, automatic refund would be made and one need not file TDR for this purpose.  However, since the date of journey in this case was scheduled on 04-04-2015, the Respondent was not entitled to such privilege.

The e-ticket in question, as it appears from the photocopy of the same on record, was booked on 13-02-2015.  There is nothing to show that at that time the train in question was not operating in the said route.  Admittedly, the train in question was not operating for the last fifteen days while the date of journey was scheduled for 04-04-2015.  Moreover, as a precautionary measure, due advice was given to passengers via said e-ticket to check the correct departure time from railway enquiry system either by dialing the given phone no. or sending sms.  Surely, the Respondent did not do so on the day before his journey.  Had he done so, he would surely not face the awkward situation.

In view of this, to our mind, it would not be proper for us to attribute any fault on the Appellant. 

Regarding non-refund of the price of railway ticket, as alleged, it is to be kept in mind that refund rules is governed purely by the terms and conditions as stipulated in the ticket in question.  The Respondent cannot expect differential treatment in this regard.

It appears that the Ld. District Forum passed the order simply swayed by the sufferings encountered by the Respondent and his family member over cancellation of the train in question.  However, if we look at the issue from practical aspect, the Appellant could hardly be cursed for the misery of the Respondent.  The incident, without any iota of doubt, was very unfortunate.  At the same time, we cannot be oblivious of the fact that it was beyond the control of the Appellant.  Therefore, to hold the Appellant responsible for the misery of the Respondent was not at all justified.  The impugned order cannot be upheld as such.

The Appeal, thus, succeeds in part.

Hence,

O R D E R E D

that A/1152/2015 be and the same is allowed on contest.  The impugned order is hereby set aside.  No order as to costs. Respondent is given due liberty to stake refund claim with the Appellant following due procedure.  On receipt of such claim from the Respondent, Appellant is directed to arrange necessary refund within 45 days of receipt of the same.