Forum throws out plaint against South Central Railway

Hyderabad: A complainant filed against South Central Railway for delay in a train reaching its destination, leading to loss to the passengers, has been dismissed by the consumer disputes redressal forum here.

Dhirendra Singh, advocate and resident of New Aghapura in Hyderabad and his wife Neetu Singh filed the complaint against Nampally Railway Station Master, and South Ccentral Railway additional divisional railway manager.

They demanded refund of the cost of the train ticket valued at Rs 2,700, besides Rs 10,000 by way of compensation for loss of valuable time to the practising advocate, medical bill amount incurred for the complainant’s minor son’s medical treatment running into Rs 5,427, compensation at the rate of Rs 25,000 to each complainant for the inconvenience and mental agony caused due to the delayed arrival of the train and Rs 5,000 towards the cost of complaint.

They together totaled Rs 73,217. The complainants said the train reached its destination, Nampally Railway Station late by eight and a half hours. This “amounted to a deficiency in service, which should be compensated.”

The Railways contented that Union of India has to be made a party for any suit against the Railways and not the station master. Railways argued that it has taken all steps to run all trains on time, except in circumstances where the situation went beyond its control.

Parts of the track between Khandwa and  Secunderabad consisted of a single line adding to the constraints. As the complainants had completed  their journey, the railways was not liable to refund the cost of the  ticket, it said. Advocate A. Santosh Kumar said, “When a train is delayed, unfortunately  in India, there is no way to claim compensation. The situation is  different in other countries.”