Railways Vendor Caught Selling Water Bottles For Rs 20; Rs 50,000 Penalty Imposed By Central Railway

A fine of Rs 50,000 has been imposed by the Central Railways on a tea stall owner of Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) whose video of over charging for a 1-litre bottle of Rail Neer packaged drinking water went viral.

An inquiry was initiated by CR authorities after the video clip went viral on November 5.

Charged Rs 20 for a Rs 15 bottle

The police said after the inspection that “In this regard, an inspection was done by the concerned authority, in which it was noted that the stall manager failed to show dealing vendor’s ID card”. 

The Social Media Uproar

After the tweet, it got viral and a tweet read that “Open looting of @Central_Railway Kurla Lokmanya Tilak Terminus. Rs15 Rail Neer is being openly sold for Rs 20. Seeing the confidence of the stall staff it seems to be a regular affair”.

The video has been retweeted by nearly 800 Twitter users and has received around 1,600 likes. “This is being done at all the railway stations. Bottles of packaged water priced at Rs15 are being sold for Rs 20 without any fear,” tweeted Ayush Kumar Singh.

Another Twitter user with the handle @AlertCitizens5 tweeted, “Yes, selling at Rs 15 for regular temperature and Rs 20 for chilled (refrigerated) water at many stalls.”

Another user, Kamlesh Jha tweeted, “At most railway stations they charge Rs5 more and the logic behind this is ‘chilling charge’. The MRP includes every charge.”

Meanwhile, user @Sirworks2022 demanded strict actionagainstthe culprits. “Sack the person or persons selling them for Rs20.Inform the stall owner if not aware. Selling basic necessities like water at such a high price while the government shouldhave installed taps and coolers all over the city for everyone to drink.”

A senior officer of CR said, “An inquiry has been initiated. If anyone is found guilty, appropriate action will be taken against the culprits.”