The elderly traveler, who traveled from Darbhanga in Bihar to Delhi, has got justice after almost 14 years. The Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has ordered the Railways to pay one lakh rupees as compensation to the passenger.
New Delhi: Despite the reservation (Train Berth Reservation), it was very difficult for the Railways to not give a seat to the elderly passenger. The Consumer Commission has ordered the Railways to pay one lakh rupees to the aggrieved passenger as compensation. In this case about 14 years old, Bihar’s elderly passenger Inder Nath Jha was not given a berth in the train despite the reservation and he had to travel from Darbhanga in Bihar to Delhi by standing.
Case of 2008
The South District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission of Delhi has ordered to pay this damages to the General Manager of East Central Railway on the complaint of Inder Nath Jha. Jha had booked a ticket for the journey from Darbhanga to Delhi in February 2008, but despite the reservation, he was not given a berth.
There was talk of seat upgrade
The commission said in its decision that people make reservations in advance only for comfortable travel, but the complainant had to face a lot of difficulties in this journey. In such a situation, they should get compensation. According to the complaint, the railway officials had sold Jha’s confirmed ticket to someone else. When he asked the TTE about this, he was told that his seat in the sleeper class has been upgraded to AC, but when Jha reached there, the train officials did not even give him that berth. Due to this he had to travel from Darbhanga to Delhi standing.
Railways did not accept the mistake
The Railways defended itself saying that it was not at fault in this matter. The officials argued that Jha did not catch the train at the boarding point and after five hours caught the train at some other station. He said that the TTE felt that he had not boarded the train and according to the rules, this seat was given to the waiting passenger. But the commission did not accept this argument of the railway officials.
‘Complete negligence of railways’
The commission said that the TTE of sleeper class had told the TTE of AC that the passenger has caught the train and he will reach there later. The commission said that the complainant was not given any berth despite reservation and had to travel without a seat. A passenger has the right to sit in his reserve berth and there is no need for any formality. If the berth was upgraded, they should have got that berth. The commission said that it is a matter of negligence of the railways.
