Pune: A passenger of Humsafar Express has lodged a complaint that his seat was illegally sold by the Travelling Ticket Examiner (TTE). The train departed from Pune on Saturday at 8.05 am. The incident took place at Pune station.
This is not a rare incident. Twitter Grievance Cell (TGC) of Pune Division is flooded with complaints of passengers who allege that the Travelling Ticket Examiner (TTE) allots the seats booked by them to unreserved passengers after taking a bribe from them.
Chandra Bhan Singh, a passenger of Humsafar train, booked his e-ticket. His berth was allocated in bogey number B-16 and the berth number was 39. When the train departed from Pune, another passenger approached him and claimed that TTE has allocated him the berth. Singh took his ticket and immediately clicked the photo of the receipt, which was given by the TTE and tweeted to @sureshpprabhu.
The railway ministry responded and directed Divisional Rail Manager (DRM), Pune to take necessary action. The DRM tweeted to concerned officials.
“It was shocking when a passenger came to me and asked me to vacate the seat as the seat was allocated to him. I asked him to show the ticket, he showed the receipt and I showed him my original ticket. I immediately tweeted to the railway minister’s official Twitter account,” said Singh.
According to Pawan Kumar, a passenger who frequently travels between Pune and Mumbai, in late night trains between Mumbai and Pune it has become a practice where the passengers travel in reserved coaches by giving Rs 50 to TTEs without buying a ticket.
Passengers often complain that the TTEs admit so many passengers in the reserved coaches that it’s difficult to even walk in the alley or rest feet on the floor as passengers are sitting everywhere by spreading newspapers.
Manoj Jhawar, Public Relations Officer of DRM, Pune said that as per the rule if a passenger boards the train after two stations from where he booked the ticket, the TTE is authorised to allot the berth for the Reservation Against Cancellation (RAC) passenger or waiting list passenger. “The matter is under investigation, I can only comment after the investigation is over,” he said.
