Railways hikes rates for tea and coffee served in trains
NEWDELHI: Get ready to shell out more for tea and coffee while travelling by trains as the Indian Railways has revised the rate from ₹7 to ₹10. The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) issued the order after reviewing the tariff and menu of meals on board.
“Tariff of tea and coffee is revised and is fixed at ₹10 per cup. However, standard tea (not dip tea) at ₹5 will be available,” reads the circular issued by the Railway Board on September 18. The board has asked to change the licence fee accordingly and adjust the price as per requirement. IRCTC caters to about 350 trains that have pantry cars. There will be no change in prices in Rajdhani and Shatabdi as the food package in these trains are prepaid.
An IRCTC official who did not want to be named said they requested the Railway Board to revise the rates after complaints about vendors overcharging for coffee and tea.
Railway minister Piyush Goyal has emphasised on vendors overcharging for food served on trains and said the food will be free if passengers don’t get the bill. To check overcharging, catering staff were asked to use POS (point of sale) machines for accounting.
Caterers suggested to the board that all food items should be priced in multiples of five to help the passengers and reduce instances of overcharging. The ministry issued a rate card after being flooded with complaints by passengers over being overcharged for meals, water bottles and tea and coffee on trains. The ministry posted the rate list on Twitter and asked people to lodge a complaint if they are overcharged.
As per contract, the vendor should provide services at rates specified by IRCTC, display a menu, serve hygienic food. But passengers often complain about overcharging and bad quality of food.