In 15 months, Railways collects Rs 12.5L from ticketless travellers

Radhika Pasrija

Chandigarh, February 4

Witnessing a substantial rise in the collection of ticketless fine, the authorities at Chandigarh railway station realised nearly Rs 12.5 lakh from erring passengers between January 2022 and March 2023. The total number of such cases stood at 3,164. The maximum amount of fine was collected in August 2022, which was over Rs 1.3 lakh in 320 cases.

As per Section 138 of the Railway Act 1989, if any passenger is found travelling without proper pass/ticket, a penalty of ?250 or equivalent to fare (ordinary single fare for the distance which he has travelled or from the station from which the train started and the excess charge, i.e. ?250) whichever is more, will be imposed.

Most cases in May ’22

• Maximum number of cases between May and Nov in 2022
• Highest amount of fine collected in Aug 2022, i.e. over Rs 1.3L
• Highest number of cases recorded in May 2022, i.e. 321

In this period, the maximum number of 321 cases were registered in May 2022, and the amount of fine collected was Rs 82,000. Mandip Singh Bhatia, DRM, Ambala Division, said, “During this time, many regular trains were restored which were not operational since Covid. Therefore, a surge in the number ticketless passengers was observed.”

From May 2022 to November 2022, more fine was collected than during the rest of the year. Rakesh Kumar, Chief Ticket Inspector, Chandigarh station, said, “February and March and those succeeding September are ideally offseason as people do not plan vacation in these months.” He said defaulters could be found in both reserved and unreserved (general) coaches.

On the other hand, Kalka railway station recorded the maximum number of 48 cases in March 2023, when over Rs 19,000 fine was collected. This station is the northern terminus of the Delhi-Kalka line and serves passengers moving on to Delhi and Shimla. As October and March are preferred months for visiting Shimla, more cases were registered in these months. In October 2022, 42 cases were recorded and over Rs 20,000 was collected as fine. The total amount of fine realised from passengers for travelling without ticket at Kalka station was more than Rs 2 lakh in about 500 cases.