Railways swallow the bitter pill with 686 plaints on food

Contractors to be fined, livestreaming of kitchens to keep eye on quality

MUMBAI: The Indian Railways has received 686 complaints over poor quality of food served on-board its outstation trains across the country.

The Indian Rail Catering Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) that looks after catering, has even received complaints from premium trains like the Rajdhani, Shatabdi, and Duronto.

Union railway minister Piyush Goyal has now asked IRCTC to set up a system to live-stream the base kitchens so that the public can view the preparation live.

The complaints were recorded between April 1, 2017 and March 31, 2018. Despite receiving 686 complaints, only 31 cases were registered and fines worth ₹2,77,500 collected.

Around 276 complaints over quality of food were in regards to catering on Rajdhani trains alone but only seven cases were registered

Complaints received regarding quality of food between April - June 2018

Fine incurred after 31 complaint cases were registered

Fine was recovered from contractors of 17 cases which were registered on quality of food

and ₹85,000 charged in fines.

In regards to Shatabdi and Duronto Express, eight and 23 complaints respectively were raised, of which only one case in each was registered. Fines of ₹10,000 and ₹5,000 respectively were collected from contractors, according to data released by Indian Railways.

Complaints of misconduct with passengers on trains were received

Complaints of overcharging for eatables

Between April and June 2018, the Railways received 49 complaints of poor quality food. Eight cases were registered against contractors of Rajdhani, four of Shatabdi, and three of Duronto Express. A total of 17 cases were registered and fines amounting to ₹1,96,000 were charged.

Meanwhile, 784 cases of overcharging for food items were also reported between April 1, 2017, and March 31, 2018, following which 404 cases were registered and ₹32,55,000 in fines collected.

“We have taken such cases very seriously and started charging hefty fines from contractors,” said Pinakin Morawala, spokesperson, IRCTC.