On the right track

Traffic is heaviest on the tracks Indian Railways transports both men and materials. While taxpayer's pay for both good service and effic...

Traffic is heaviest on the tracks Indian Railways transports both men and materials. While taxpayer8217;s pay for both good service and efficiency, the latter is everyone8217;s moral responsibility. Yet trains are invariably late; long distance trains are found to be without water and electricity due to paucity of maintenance; travelling ticket examiners do not bother to check unauthorised entry of passengers in reserved compartments; passengers given reserved accommodation by the train conductor are arbitrarily fined by the anti-fraud squad and often bogies are not attached resulting in inconvenience to passengers holding reserved tickets they have to finally travel in unreserved compartments defeating the very purpose of reservation. The list could go on.

And to the add to the trauma of commuters, rail accidents have become frequent, a sign of authorities not concerned with the safety and well being of passengers. Unfortunately, all of us grumble, but hardly anyone comes forward to book the railways for itsglaring sometimes fatal errors.

Before talking about the legal rights regarding deficiency in the service of the railways and the remedy available under the Consumer Protection Act, I will first deal with the Railway Claims Tribunal Act and other similar legislations which prohibit the filing of certain types of complaints in consumer or civil courts. Most people are not aware of these and file complaints which are heard several years later and dismissed because the consumer forum does not have jurisdiction to entertain such complaints.The Railways Claims Tribunal Act, 1987, confers exclusive jurisdiction on the Railway Claims Tribunal to deal with the following types of cases:

Claims or compensation for loss, destruction, damage, deterioration or non-delivery of animals or goods.

Claims for refund for fares or for refund of any freight paid in respect of animals or goods, and

Claims in respect of railway accidents.

The Consumer Protection Act is in addition to and not inderogation of any other law which may be in force. In the case of the above three types of claims, the legislature has ousted the jurisdiction of all courts and granted exclusive jurisdiction only to the Railway Claims Tribunal. The Consumer Protection Act cannot override the bar under the Railway Claims Tribunal Act, and hence complaints regarding such cases cannot be filed before consumer forums.

Similarly, compensation cannot be sought for delay in delivery of goods because of the Coaching Tarrif Rule states that the Railways do not guarantee despatch of articles or animals by any particular train or delivery within a stipulated time period. Unfortunately, while talking about competition, liberalisation and globalisation, the Centre continues with outdated rules that promote inefficiency by providing complete protection and lack of accountability.

All this, I admit, is grim. But there are aspects where consumer courts have won justice for those who have suffered due to negligence of the Railways. Iwill deal with some landmark judgments on this issue.

Mrs Kabita Hansaria was travelling by Tinsukhia Mail from Delhi to Guwahati. While moving from one coach to another through the corridor/vestibule, she fell down and died. A case was filed in the consumer court. In appeal, the National Commission distinguished between a quot;railway accidentquot; and an quot;accidental deathquot;, and held that since there had been an accidental death but no railway accident, the consumer forum had jurisdiction to entertain the complaint. The legal heirs were awarded a compensation of Rs 225,000.

Manoj Pathak and his parents had confirmed reservation to travel from Bombay Central to Ahmedabad by the Gujarat Express. Unauthorised persons boarded the train en route. The complainant attempted to seek help of the ticket checker but was unsuccessful. When he attempted to resist the illegal entry of persons in a reserved compartment, he was beaten up and his vertebral column suffered a fracture resulting in a 10 percent permanentbodily disability. The National Commission ultimately held that the compensation of Rs 56,000 awarded by the lower forums was justified and dismissed the revision petition filed by the Railways with costs of Rs 1,000 payable to the complainant.

Dr Pramod Kumar Agarwal had five confirmed tickets to travel from Allahabad to Howrah by Kalka Mail. As the train was late, Dr Kumar approached the conductor of Chambal Express who made the necessary endorsement on the ticket, permitting him to travel by this train. The anti-fraud squad refused to recognise the endorsement and fined Dr Agarwal for ticketless travel. The National Commission, in revision, held that the complainant was entitled to a refund of the fare and penalty which had wrongly been charged.It is clear from the above examples that the Railways have been held accountable by consumers where negligence has been established.

The Passengers and Traffic Relief Association Dial: 2043168 8212; 3.00 pm to 6.00 pm at Anand BhavanSiddhartha College Building, IIIrd floor, Above Great Western Stores, D N Road, Fort, Mumbai-400001, is one of the oldest voluntary consumer organisations in the country, having been established in 1915. It takes up complaints against the railways and attempts to sort out the matter amicably. The issues taken up are both of general nature as well as specific complaints.

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8212; Jehangir B Gai is a consumer activist and has won the Government of India8217;s National Youth Award for Consumer Protection