Indian Railways Ordered To Pay Rs 50,000 To A Passenger Because AC Was Not Working!

The Indian Railways have been directed to pay a compensation fee of Rs 50,000 to a commuter in a case related to June 2017 by a consumer commission.

The Railways have been ordered to make the payment to the commuter Shivshankar Ramshringar Shukla, who as a senior citizen had to undergo a first-class AC journey on Duronto Express with malfunctioned air conditioning service.

The complete case has been written below in detail. This is not the first time the Railways is having to pay a compensation fee to a traveller due to service inconveniences.

However, here’s everything you need to know about the current case.

Indian Railways Ordered to pay Rs 50,000 to Commuter

Shivshankar Ramshringar Shukla, a senior citizen, boarded the Duronto Express from Allahabad in June 2017 to return to Mumbai. The booked ticket was a first-class AC one, for him to return to the Fort area in the city.

In his complaint report, Shukla wrote that the AC system of the train was not functioning when he boarded the train, to which other passengers joined as well complaining about the same.

He said that on bringing the issue to the TTE and technical assistance’s notice, the passengers were told that the AC would start working once the train starts running.

However, even as their journey began, the problem was not resolved and the passengers were later told that there was a gas leak in the AC system.

Shukla further complained that despite the train stopping at two stations for repair, the AC issue was not resolved, leaving the passengers with difficulties as the journey time was over 20 hours and the daytime temperature outside was over 40 degree Celcius. 

As the AC compartments are all packed and closed, the dysfunction of AC throughout the long journey caused problems to the passengers due to the lack of ventilation, the complainant stated.

So he filed a complaint against Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, the General Manager of the Central Railway, the IRCTC and the Railways Ministry to the consumer commission.

After 5 long years, Shukla will now get a compensation of Rs 50,000 from Indian Railways, in which Rs 35,000 will be for mental agony and Rs 15,000 will serve as litigation costs, a Times Now report cited.