Three railway officials face enquiry for bribery

NEW DELHI: The railways will conduct an enquiry against three senior officials for allegedly taking bribes of up to Rs 3 lakh from the operators of Yatri Ticket Suvidha Kendra (YTSK), which were launched by the national transporter in 2014 to expand its ticketing system, sources said.

The Northern Railway officers, one of whom is a senior divisional commercial manager in New Delhi, face termination if found guilty of corruption, the sources added.

Railway Board Chairman Ashwani Lohani received a complaint on Thursday, alleging that the three officers had demanded bribes for issuing licences, when all of them were posted in Delhi, for the modernisation of and running YTSKS. Audio and video clips against the alleged offend- ers were also sent to Lohani, following which the Railway Board decided to conduct an enquiry, the sources said.

The Railway Board chairman has called a meeting of all senior officials of the Northern Zone on Monday, when the course of action in this regard is likely to be decided.

Approximately 188 YTSKS are currently functioning. The railway ministry has allowed public private partnership in establishing and operating these centres. Under the scheme, all authorised ticketing agents, who have worked for at least five years in providing railway ticketing services to passengers are eligible to become YTSK licensees.

Applications are called for the allotment of YTSKS by the zonal railways through advertisements in leading newspapers.

Sources said the three officials had cancelled or refused to renew the licences of those who did not pay a bribe.

In one of the cases that has come to light, the three allegedly charged Rs 3 lakh for renewing licences and demanded Rs 50,000-Rs 60,000 a month from another centre from their ticket sales, the sources said.