Railway e-tickets face legal hurdles

Indian Railways' plan to introduce Internet-auction of tickets could run into legal trouble. Charging more than the face value of the ticket could be taken as exploiting its monopoly in rail services.

"Anticipating a legal problem, the ministry has decided to be careful before introducing such a scheme," a rail ministry official told Business Standard.

The safety-first approach comes after a public interest petition that has been filed against the Tatkal scheme in the Delhi High Court. The petitioner has objected to the railways charging more than the actual rate.

Under the Tatkal scheme, passengers can make last-minute reservations by paying anything between Rs 150 and Rs 300 more than the actual price of the ticket, depending on the class of travel.

The officials, however, added that charging more than the face value was permitted under the Railway Act, 1989, which only says the railways must not show undue preference to a customer.

Clause 70 of the Act specifies, "The railway administration shall not make or give undue or unreasonable preference or advantage to, or in favour of, any particular description of traffic...."

Officials felt the practice of charging extra for reservations at short notice was not unreasonable as customers willingly paid for the service. Even if this meant that certain seats were blocked for the purpose of the scheme, providing a specialised product at a slightly higher price was the only way the railways could match the competition.

In Internet auctioning, only those tickets that were in the waiting list would be bid over the face-value of the ticket. If there were vacant seats, the ministry was prepared to lower the reserve price to 50 per cent of the price of the ticket. The bidding would stop at least a day before the departure of the train.

Officials said the scheme will be only for the AC categories.