Passengers come across different kinds of inconveniences while travelling long distances on trains. From dirty washrooms to uncomfortable journeys to bad quality food served on trains, many passengers often face miserable experiences on trains. In a recent incident, a passenger came across a situation where she was asked to nearly double the dinner payment that she ordered from the train caterer on the train. Why did the scenario of overpricing occur on this journey?
Passengers Were Asked To Pay ₹150 For ₹80 Dinner By IRCTC Dinner Person
Taking to the X (formerly Twitter) platform, ruchi kokcha (@ruchikokcha) shared all about her experiences of ordering dinner inside the train and getting a bill with an additional amount of ₹70. What was the extra ₹70 for and why did the IRCTC dinner person add it to the bill? Know all about the incident here.
Dear @IRCTCofficial I was travelling from Patna to Delhi In Brahmaputra exp train no 15658 coach M2 (8dec) with my family. We had a total of 10 seats. We ordered dinner. The IRCTC dinner person told us the price of veg thali to be ₹150. We clearly told him we will need the bill.…
— ruchi kokcha (@ruchikokcha) December 9, 2023
Ruchi and her family were travelling on Brahmaputra Express train no 15658 coach M2. The family of 10 boarded the train on December 8, 2023, from Patna to reach Delhi. While ordering veg thali costing ₹80, she realised that the IRCTC dinner person told them the price of veg thali was ₹150. After the passengers asked for the bill, they noticed that the man “bifurcated the amount into two components”; veg thali for ₹80 and paneer sabji for ₹70 making it a total of ₹150″.
Seeing the additional cost of paneer sabji, Ruchi and her family asked the dinner person to make the bill only for veg thali. The incident took a turn when the man began arguing about how the bill is usually made. The argument continued for at least an hour before his official arrived at the spot. The official stated that they could not provide the promised bill and instead gave the bill for veg thali. Also, he asked Ruchi and her family to pay ₹80 only.
Stating all about the incident, the passenger mentioned how “the staff is looting the public by giving the meal overpriced and then adding other components to the bill”.
RailwaySeva (@RailwaySeva) replied to the post by the passenger.
Ma’am, kindly share PNR and mobile number preferably in Direct Message (DM) – IRCTC Official https://t.co/utEzIqB89U
— RailwaySeva (@RailwaySeva) December 9, 2023
RailwaySeva asked Ruchi to share the PNR and mobile number.
Also read: IRCTC Website & App Temporarily Suspended Due To Technical Glitches; Resumes After 2 Hours
IRCTC (@IRCTCofficial also responded to the incident shared by Ruchi.
Ma’am, thanks for highlighting the matter it is viewed seriously. A hefty penalty has been imposed on service provider . Also, the concerned licensee staff involved in overcharging has been deboarded.
— IRCTC (@IRCTCofficial) December 9, 2023
According to the reply, “A hefty penalty has been imposed on the service provider.” The concerned department deboarded the concerned licensee staff involved in overcharging.
Netizens React To The Scenario
Users on the X platform came in support of Ruchi and her family and shared some of their similar experiences. Among so many comments under the post, we came across some Netizens who also had faced something similar while travelling on trains. Looks like the attempted scam of overcharging passengers with food bills is not something very recent.
Many Internet users are furious hearing about such a horrible incident created by the service providers. Putting a high price and overcharging passengers unofficially is unethical and leaves a harsh impression on passengers.
Here are some incidents where pantrymen asked the passengers to pay for the meals that they ordered on trains.
This is in across all the Indian trains. On 6th Dec’23 I was traveling in train no 12218 they also charged 150 inr from me oa a veg thali.
— Nikkkhil (@Tweetz_Nikhil) December 9, 2023
Same happned with me few months back. In almost all trains these pantrymen charge more than necessary. We don’t have problem to pay more, only that the increment should be by the IRCTC. When they (catering men) charge more by themselves they are actually looting the travellers.
— Karan Cheema (@kkc_cheemsports) December 9, 2023
Unofficially charging passengers is one thing, the food quality itself needs improvement. You just eat for the sake of eating.
These days there are Apps where you order food & they deliver at the next station, more of such services should come up so that passengers have other…
— Amit Lakhani (@TheAmitLakhani) December 9, 2023
Many Netizens even pointed out the fact that it is quite a common experience among many travellers.
This is a COMMON EXPERIENCE !
— Santosh Iyer (@SantoshIyer0) December 9, 2023
Thanks for the information about discrepancy and raising the matter to the authorities.
Well Done 👏🏻— Akash Ahluwalia 🇮🇳 (@AkashAhluwalia5) December 9, 2023
Also read: Bengaluru-Goa Train Passenger Disses IRCTC For Serving Food On Paper Plates; Netizens Explain Why
True. I think they also avoid giving bill and collect cash even if customer wants to make the payment digitally
— Paresh Lodha (@pareshlodha7) December 9, 2023
Thanks for sharing this, it can help many others like me who order the food in train.
— vicky55591 (@vicky55591) December 9, 2023
Have you ever had to face a similar scenario while travelling with the Indian Railways?
Cover Image Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons, X (formerly Twitter)/ ruchi kokcha (@ruchikokcha)
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