Coimbatore: At the end of a four-year-long legal battle, the district consumer forum has ordered Southern Railways to pay Rs 50,000 with 9% interest from date of complaint to a passenger, who was made to stand in the aisle during his train journey to Kerala after he picked up a quarrel with the train ticket examiner (TTE), who did not allow him to use his berth despite holding a confirmed ticket.
The forum also ordered the railways to pay back the complainant Rs 20, which he paid for reserving the ticket.
CR Shanmuga Vadivel, a resident of GN Mills, had booked a ticket in Bengaluru Express (Train No.16525) to travel from Coimbatore to Trivandrum with his wife and four-year-old daughter on May 1, 2013. While he was allotted a berth in coach S6, his wife was allotted a berth in coach S8.
On boarding the train, Vadivel left his wife and child at their coach to claim his berth at S6. To his surprise, he found that his berth was occupied by another passenger, who also staked claim for the same berth stating he had reserved a confirmed ticket through tatkal mode.
Since there were no TTEs in the train at that point of time, Vadivel had to wait till their arrival at Ernakulam station to seek help from the TTE who informed that he was helpless as the berth was already allotted to someone else. The TTE also refused to allot him another vacant berth.
In his compliant, Vadivel said he had to travel standing all the way to Trivandrum. Refuting this, railway authorities said Vadivel was sitting with his wife and child at coach S8 when TTE was verifying tickets at S6 coach. TTE then marked "not turned up" and allotted the berth to another passenger.
However, documents by Vadivel revealed that the seat was not allotted to a passenger in the waiting or reservation against cancellation (RAC) list as per norms. It subsequently ruled in favour of Vadivel.
The forum also ordered the railways to pay back the complainant Rs 20, which he paid for reserving the ticket.
CR Shanmuga Vadivel, a resident of GN Mills, had booked a ticket in Bengaluru Express (Train No.16525) to travel from Coimbatore to Trivandrum with his wife and four-year-old daughter on May 1, 2013. While he was allotted a berth in coach S6, his wife was allotted a berth in coach S8.
On boarding the train, Vadivel left his wife and child at their coach to claim his berth at S6. To his surprise, he found that his berth was occupied by another passenger, who also staked claim for the same berth stating he had reserved a confirmed ticket through tatkal mode.
Since there were no TTEs in the train at that point of time, Vadivel had to wait till their arrival at Ernakulam station to seek help from the TTE who informed that he was helpless as the berth was already allotted to someone else. The TTE also refused to allot him another vacant berth.
In his compliant, Vadivel said he had to travel standing all the way to Trivandrum. Refuting this, railway authorities said Vadivel was sitting with his wife and child at coach S8 when TTE was verifying tickets at S6 coach. TTE then marked "not turned up" and allotted the berth to another passenger.
However, documents by Vadivel revealed that the seat was not allotted to a passenger in the waiting or reservation against cancellation (RAC) list as per norms. It subsequently ruled in favour of Vadivel.
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