Food on trains, in stations continues to be expensive

Chennai: Overcharging of food and beverages, and not giving bills for purchased food continues unabated at railway stations and inside trains, despite officials claiming to have introduced token systems and checking squads on a pilot basis on some trains.

The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), which provides catering services on over a 100 trains across India, has also not able to curb the issue despite having introduced measures like token systems, pasting menus and pricing details on a few trains. The IRCTC also launched e-catering service for over 400 railway stations across India, but it has not helped many as most passengers depend on buying food once they board the train. With no menu in place for rail passengers, vendors often overcharge them for food, beverages, and water, sometimes double the actual price.

“I received a tweet about IRCTC charges and according to it, a lunch meal costs only Rs 50. Here was a vendor shamelessly asking me Rs 100 for the same. When I showed him the photo, he said that the menu he was selling was slightly different,” said an angry passenger who was aboard train no. 12164 from Chennai Egmore to Dadar.  

The vendor charged her double the actual price. Tea and coffee are priced at Rs 7 but passengers are always charged Rs 10 for a small cup, passengers added.

“The railways does not check vendors seriously. Unless there are regular checks and passengers are educated on pricing, they will always be exploited,” said V. Santhanam, a senior citizen, and an RTI activist.

“No one has the time to make a complaint when they are travelling. A feature to print the pricing on the tickets should be introduced,” he added.