Retired railway staff help commuters get tickets from ATVMs, earn a living

The retired employees help commuters who do not know how to use the machines.

Retired railway employees, including Railway Protection Force (RPF) constables, railway mechanics and train ticket collectors, continue their association with the railways. They dot railway stations assisting commuters to get tickets via Automatic Ticket Vending Machines (ATVMs) and helping them avoid the serpentine queues. The employees also get to earn with the railways providing them Rs 5 for every Rs 100 that they spend to load their smart cards.

Back in 2013, the railways had allowed class IV employees to work as “facilitators” who would help commuters get tickets from the ATVMs. While the method worked, the railways withdrew the facilitators after it came to light that the employees who earned extra working as facilitators had started compromising their own work and focusing on ATVMs. Later, however, it was decided that retired railway employees could be roped in to ensure that the commuters can be helped and the retired railway employees too could earn a living.

Karam Daiveer, a retired employee working as a facilitator, said, “I have been managing the machine at Chhatrapathi Shivaji Maharaj Terminus for the past two years. Using this machine, one can buy platform tickets and local tickets. We have around five ATVMs at the platform. I help commuters buy tickets as they are not aware of how to use the machine. The price range of the ticket varies from Rs 5 to Rs 70. From the tickets I sell, I get 5 per cent which is my income. Around 1,000-2,000 commuters come to me daily to get the tickets from the machine. On festive occasions, the number goes up manifold.”

B L Yadav (63), who was formerly a RPF head constable and now mans ATVM machines at Mumbra, likes the fact that they do not have any fixed timings. “It depends on how much does one want to earn. If I work for more hours, I earn more. However, if you don’t feel like turning up for work, you could. However, since the age limit for this is 65 years, most people want to earn whatever they can in these five years.” However, not every decision is left to them. Yadav, a Kalyan resident, wanted to work at Thane station, but he had been allotted Mumbra station. “It is the railway officials who decided who will be stationed where,” the former RPF official says. Pala Swamy (62) at Guru Tegh Bahadur Nagar railway station, who was earlier a railway mechanic, said, “… On a given day, I charge the smart card for Rs 15,000 and it is exhausted by the end of the day.”

Ashwini Roy, a commuter from CSMT, said, “I prefer buying tickets from the vending machine. It saves a lot of time and the process is quite quick. There are people here who help you buy tickets from the machine.”