Chennai: Coupon system for food ordered on trains, introduced over a month back by Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), has led to a fall in complaints from customers regarding exorbitant rates charged by caterers, officials said.
Due to increased complaints by rail passengers on the refusal of caterers to show menu cards and the exorbitant rates charged for food and beverages, a senior official from IRCTC said that this coupon system was introduced.
“In several trains, a coupon system was introduced, through which, the passenger ordering food would be given a coupon by the sellers, which has the item name and the corresponding rate.”
“Apart from this, we have also started sending personnel for periodic inspection and monitoring,” the official said. “There were a lot of complaints from consumers about vendors overcharging them. We have started to fine the catering contractors who hire the vendors,” he added.
Despite these measures in place, passengers still complain of overcharging and sub-standard quality. “On March 11, when I had been travelling, despite knowing that the cost of coffee is '7, I had to shell out '10. The vendors claim that they don’t have a change for the 10 rupees. Not only the cost but the quality is so poor that we have to force ourselves to have coffee on trains as there is no other option,” said V. Rama Rao, a frequent commuter.
IRCTC officials, however, said that the number of complaints has come down considerably. “Personally, monitoring of the vendors is not feasible round the clock but it is during these surprise checks when we catch the defaulting vendors.”
“In the last few days, compared to the number of complaints we had been receiving daily, we are receiving fewer complaints,” an official added.
