New Delhi: The Indian Ministry of Railways on Monday directed its catering business and ticketing arm, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) to cancel all existing contracts of mobile catering services providing cooked food to passengers. The Railway Ministry issued a regulatory filing that stated, “IRCTC is directed to terminate all existing contracts of mobile catering (currently kept in abeyance) involving scope of work of providing cooked food to passengers prepared from base kitchens as per the existing terms and conditions.”
This decision was taken in the backdrop of a new normal of serving ready-to-eat in special trains.
“IRCTC is further directed to treat this case as an exception arising out of pandemic situation and not to treat the case as contractor’s default and hence not impose any fine for not providing catering services and also return the Security Deposit (SD) and advance license fee in full after considering/adjusting valid dues, if any,” the filing further added.
The Railways Ministry’s direction came amid the issue of mobile catering being raised in a petition by members of Indian Railways’ Mobile Caterers Association (ICRMCA) in the Madras High Court on 19 January, 2021. In the order, the Madras HC had directed the Indian Railways to consider the representation by IRMCA to restore their services, which have been suspended since lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic was announced in March 2020.
The court had further observed that the authorities should give sufficient opportunity to members of the association to put forward their contentions and pass orders within four weeks.