The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Ludhiana, has directed the Indian Railways to refund Rs 5 to a passenger and pay him Rs 10,000 as compensation and litigation costs after finding deficiency in service and unfair trade practice in the deduction of a portion of the ticket refund amount.
The order was passed by the commission comprising president Sanjeev Batra and member Monika Bhagat while deciding a consumer complaint filed by Premjit Singh, a local resident, against the Station Master, Ludhiana, and the Divisional Railway Manager, Ferozepur Cantt.
According to the complaint, Premjit Singh had booked two railway tickets on February 28, 2023, for travelling from Hisar to Ludhiana on March 3, 2023, for himself and his father. He paid Rs 330 through his SBI debit card. Owing to an urgent reason, he cancelled the tickets before the journey and was informed that after deduction of cancellation charges of Rs 240, he would receive a refund of Rs 90. However, only Rs 85 was credited to his bank account.
The complainant alleged that despite repeated enquiries at the railway station and on the railway helpline, he was not given any satisfactory explanation regarding the Rs 5 deduction. Claiming mental harassment and deficiency in service, he approached the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, seeking refund of the deducted amount along with compensation.
The railway authorities contested the complaint and argued that the amount had not been deducted by the Railways but by the complainant’s bank, State Bank of India (SBI). The Railways further claimed that the SBI was a necessary party to the proceedings and that there was no deficiency in service on their part.
During the proceedings, however, an RTI reply furnished by the SBI revealed that the bank had credited only Rs 85 as received from the Railway Department and it had not deducted any charge from the refund amount. The railways later relied upon a Railway Board notification issued in January 2017, providing for a refund processing fee of Rs 5 for transactions up to Rs 1,000.
After examining the evidence, the commission observed that the cancelled ticket did not contain any reference to such a refund fee. It further noted that the Railways failed to establish that information regarding the refund charge had been prominently displayed at ticket counters, despite the notification itself requiring such disclosure. The commission also remarked that no reason for the deduction was communicated to the passenger and that his statutory consumer rights, including the right to be informed and the right to be heard, had been violated.
Holding the Railways guilty of adopting an unfair trade practice and rendering deficient service, the Commission partly allowed the complaint. It directed the Railways to refund Rs 5 to the complainant within 30 days and further ordered payment of Rs 10,000 as composite compensation and litigation costs. Failure to comply would attract a penalty of Rs 200 per day till the payment is made.
The commission observed that even a small monetary deduction cannot be justified when consumers are not properly informed about charges being imposed upon them.
