Should the Railways compensate you for trains running late? Yes, says the Supreme Court.
In a significant order, the Supreme Court has said that every passenger's time is “precious” and the Railways is liable to pay the compensation for “delay and late arrival of trains' unless it proves that the delay was due to the reasons beyond their control.
A top court bench refused to allow the appeal of Northern Western Railway against the verdict of the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission directing compensation to a passenger.
A complainant has sought compensation after he and three others missed the connecting flight to Srinagar in 2016 as the train reached four hours behind the scheduled arrival at Jammu Tawi station.
The consumer panel directed the Northern Western Railway to pay ₹ 15,000 for taxi expenses, ₹10,000 towards booking expenses along with ₹ 5,000 each towards mental agony and litigation expenses. The top court upheld the verdict by ther Consumer Commission.