 "Indian Railways")
The Indian Railways has caught nearly 36 million passengers travelling on the wrong tickets or without a ticket in 2022-2023. It has witnessed a jump of almost ten million from the previous year, a report revealed.
According to media reports, earlier in 2019-2020, 11 million people were caught travelling either without a ticket or with a wrong ticket. In 2021-2022, the tally, however, jumped to 27 million.
In 2020-2021, when the Coronavirus pandemic broke out, the number was at 3.25 million, the report added.
Under the Right to Information Act (RTI), the Railways responded to the query filed by an activist from Madhya Pradesh. It also presented data showing the revenue that the national transporter generated from such travellers.
The earning from such passengers has increased to Rs 2,260.05 crore in FY 2022-23. In 2020-2021, it stood at Rs 152 crore, whereas, in 2021-2022 the earnings stood at Rs 1,574.73 crore.
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The report also highlighted that the number of ticketless passengers caught in 2022-2023 is even higher than the population of many small countries.
Passengers have now complained about a mismatch in the demand-supply of train services. The report citing data from Railways added that more than 27 million passengers could not board trains in 2022-23 despite buying tickets because they were wait-listed indicating a shortage of trains on busy routes in the country.
In the previous financial year, the figure stood at 16.5 million for the number of people who could not board trains.
If passengers are caught travelling without a ticket, a minimum fine that has to be paid is of Rs 250, along with the actual cost of the ticket. If someone refuses to pay the fine or does not have the money to do so, they are handed over to the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and booked under Section 137 of the Railways Act. The defaulter is then presented in front of a magistrate, who can fine him as much as Rs 1,000. In case the person still does not want to pay the fine, they may be jailed for up to six months. The defaulter is then presented in front of a magistrate, who can fine him as much as Rs 1,000. In case the person still does not want to pay the fine, they may be jailed for up to six months, the report highlighted.
