Late by ‘317 minutes’ in reaching destination, man wins Rs 60,000 from Railways

Delayed journey

The complainant stated that he had booked a train ticket in KBJ Ispat Express for travel from Tatanagar to Sambalpur on October 13, 2024. The train was scheduled to depart Tatanagar at 10:18 am and reach Sambalpur at 3:50 pm. The complainant claimed that it reached the destination 317 minutes late, causing him physical inconvenience, mental agony and harassment. Therefore, he sought Rs 2.5 lakh as compensation.

The South Eastern Railway opposed the complaint, arguing that the consumer commission lacked jurisdiction because claims relating to railways fall under the Railway Claims Tribunal Act, 1987. It also contended that the complaint was defective as the ticket had been booked through IRCTC, which was not impleaded as a party, and that the Kharagpur Division should also have been made a party to the proceedings. It therefore denied any liability for deficiency in service.

The commission held that consumer fora are competent to entertain complaints alleging deficiency in railway services. “The Honble SC and National Consumer Commission in several cases has held that the District Consumer Commission has got jurisdiction to adjudicate the case for deficiency of Services,” the commission said. It relied on the Supreme Court’s decision, where the court held that passengers’ time is valuable and that the Railways are liable to compensate passengers for delayed trains unless they prove that the delay was beyond their control and adequately justified.

“In the instant case OP has not filed any evidence explaining delay of train by more than five hours and OP failed to establish delay occurred which was beyond their control. Complainant has proved his case by oral documentary evidence,” the commission noted.

Holding that the complainant had established deficiency in service, the commission directed the Senior Divisional Operations Manager, South Eastern Railway, Chakradharpur Division, and the General Manager, South Eastern Railway, Kolkata, to pay Rs 50,000 as compensation for harassment and mental agony and Rs 10,000 towards litigation expenses within 45 days.

Takeaway

Public service providers, including the Railways, can be held liable under the Consumer Protection Act for unreasonable delays if they fail to justify them. When a train is significantly delayed and the Railways cannot produce evidence showing that the delay was beyond their control, it may amount to deficiency in service.

For consumer-related grievances, individuals may contact the consumer helpline in their respective states and Union territories (Jharkhand: 18003456598) or call the National Consumer Helpline at 1915 for assistance.

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