Rly passengers at mercy of porters

Jaswant Shetra

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, October 14

The passengers at the railway station have often complained about overcharging by porters who carry their luggage. Though the railway authorities have fixed fare on the basis of weight and time taken by them for transporting the luggage, however, passengers claim that porters often overcharge them.

At present, there are 58 porters, including a woman porter working at the Ludhiana railway station. The porters charge Rs 60 for carrying up to 40-kg weight for 20 minutes. In 7 the weight is above 40 kg, the porters charge twice the amount.

“The porters at the railway station have been overcharging from the passengers. The ones who travel with a lot of luggage completely depend upon porters to move their luggage from one platform to another. In such a situation, the porters demand extra money from passengers and the latter have no option but to accept demands of the former,” said Nitin Bali, a passenger.

At one hand, the passengers have urged the railway authorities to display fare list to end fleecing of passengers by the porters. On the other hand, porters said fare fixed by the railway authorities is not enough. The porters have demanded to fix Rs 100 for carrying up to 40-kg weight for 20 minutes.

“We work very hard to earn a livelihood. Lifting heavy luggage and shifting it to other platforms is a tough task. The railway authorities have not revised the tariff for last many years. We urge that the railway authorities revise our tariff,” said Bhola, a porter, at the Ludhiana railway station.

Ludhiana railway station director Abhinav Singla said, “The porters cannot overcharge and in case the passengers face problem, they should inform the railway authorities. The porters have been demanding to increase fare. The tariff for porters is fixed by the Northern Railways.”