Railway booking touts do brisk business in Amritsar

The involvement of higher railway officials, however, cannot be ruled out since the nexus is operating unabated and with impunity for years. Moreover, these agents collect higher than the prescribed service charges from customers.

Apart from these well organised railway booking agents, small time touts can also be seen hovering near booking windows, hunting for customers. They promise guaranteed reservations while haggling with them.

Yogesh Aggarwal, assistant traffic manager railways expressed ignorance on the existence of these touts. He said they conducted regular surprise checks in the booking offices and also counted the cash. Though he admitted that a regular watch on the booking office at the Golden Temple complex was not possible he said they had authorised Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee authorities to keep a check on the office.

The touts were charging Rs 20 and Rs 30 respectively per ticket for the second class and upper class as against the going rate of Rs 15 and 25 per ticket.

J.S.Arora of Vikas Travel Services said the excess amount was for the operational cost8217;. He said there could be 10 to 12 unauthorised booking agents in the city whom people approached for their convenience.

Rajiv Suri, director, Sewara Travels Pvt Ltd was also of the same view. He said railway authorities had issued identity cards to railway travel service agents who stood in a queue at the railway booking office but maintained that they got seats reserved only on one form at a time. The veracity of this claim, however, is questionable as on an average, 30 to 40 seats are booked by a agent in a day.

Inside sources reveals that Rs 5 to Rs 7 is allegedly paid to the booking clerks who have an understanding8217; with the agents.Satpal Sharma, a railway commuter rued that he was denied the tatkal reservation for Swaran Shatabdi from the window but the travel agent it done by taking Rs 150 against the official fee of Rs 50 per ticket. Harjit Singh, another commuter said he was waiting in the queue for a long time, whereas a travel agent got six tickets booked on separate forms.

The assistant traffic manager said they made enquiries only against specific complaints. He said they had caught an alleged booking agent but due to absence of any witness, no action could be taken against him. A booking clerk was also charge-sheeted for accepting two forms from one person at a time, he added.

Despite the hue and cry raised by railway commuters, the authorities seem reluctant to pursue the matter for reasons best known to them.