Amid curbs, 27 lakh caught without ticket on trains: RTI

New Delhi, June 6

Despite severe restrictions on entry to railway stations without confirmed tickets in view of the Covid-19 pandemic, over 27 lakh persons were caught travelling ticketless in the last fiscal, an RTI query has revealed.

This was, however, less than 25 per cent of the number of cases recorded the previous financial year.

The data made available by the Railway Board following an RTI query by a Madhya Pradesh-based activist showed that between April 2020 and March 2021, 27.57 lakh people were caught travelling ticketless and Rs 143.82 crore was levied as fine.

In the 2019-2020 fiscal, 1.10 crore people were caught travelling ticketless and a fine of Rs 561.73 crore was realised from them. In June last year, the Railways began running special trains and issued strict guidelines — e-ticketing through the IRCTC website or through a mobile App.

Fully waitlisted passengers and unreserved passengers were not allowed to travel on trains as the unreserved coaches were booked as reserved second sitting coaches to ensure that the necessary Covid-related protocols are followed. — PTI