‘Metro is a service provider, can be sued in consumer court’
LUCKNOW: Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation (LMRC) is a service provider and can be sued in consumer courts for technical failures, say lawyers.
Gaurav Tripathi, a passenger who missed his flight due to the Metro train being stranded at Mawaiyya crossing for two hours on Wednesday, said: “I work for a multinational company and was scheduled to take a flight to attend an important meeting in Delhi. I started three hours before the scheduled time and boarded the Metro. But I was stranded in the train for two hours and missed the flight. This affected my reputation in front of bosses and clients.”
“When I spoke to LMRC MD Kumar Keshav, he was indifferent and asked what if I had got stuck in a traffic jam,” said Tripathi. “He told me to forget about any compensation and think that it was the first day of Lucknow Metro so nothing could be done,” he added. Consumer lawyer Sarvesh Sharma said, “Even airlines are sued for delays due to which passengers incurred losses or missed connecting flights.”
Railways also had to pay penalty for passengers missing connecting trains. In April 2015, the Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum ordered two Indian Railways officials to pay ₹8,000 to a consumer who missed his connecting train to Chandigarh from New Delhi.
Nazim Ahmed, a resident of Sector 25 in Chandigarh was travelling by Bhagalpur-New Delhi (Anand Vihar) Garib Rath Express on May 13, 2014, and the train reached the station eight hours late. Because of the delay, Ahmed missed his connecting train. He pleaded with the New Delhi stationmaster to connect that ticket with other train as it was not his fault but his plea was turned down. He then filed a case with consumer court.