Passenger complains about 'overpriced' food on train, Indian Railways takes action

A passenger travelling from Patna to Delhi with her family on the Brahmaputra express posted on X complaining that she was charged an inflated price for a meal on the train.

'Dear @IRCTCofficial I was travelling from Patna to Delhi In Brahmaputra exp train no 15658 coach M2 (8dec) with my family. We had a total of 10 seats. We ordered dinner. The IRCTC dinner person told us the price of veg thali to be ₹150. We clearly told him we will need the bill,' the passenger who goes by the name Ruchi Kokcha on X tweeted.

She then went on to write that when the train staff came back he had divided the bill into two sections - the price of veg thali was Rs 80 and the paneer was billed at Rs 70.

'When he brought the bill he bifurcated the amount into two components veg thali- ₹80 + paneer sabji ₹70 =₹150. We asked him to make the bill only for veg thali as we ordered just that. He kept arguing with us for an hour that this is how the bill is prepared. After an hour his official came and said he can’t give the promised bill. They gave us bill for veg thali ₹80 and said “aap itna hi pay kar do”.'

Ruchi tagged the railways minister and Indian Railways in her tweet.

'Clearly the staff is looting the public by giving the meal overpriced and then adding other components to the bill. Please look into this as this kind of behaviour is tarnishing the image of Indian Railways. @RailMinIndia @IndianRailMedia.'

IRCTC replied to her complaint and said 'Ma'am, thanks for highlighting the matter it is viewed seriously. A hefty penalty has been imposed on service provider . Also, the concerned licensee staff involved in overcharging has been deboarded.'