Mumbai: Railways Collects Rs.7 Lakh Fine in A Day
Western Railway's ticket checks at busy stations found many ticketless travelers, prompting calls for digital payments and better access control.
Dadar station is one of the busiest in the city which sees a footfall of between 3 and 5 lakh passengers every day. The Western Railway (WR) on 30th September 2023, deployed 195 ticket-checking staff at Dadar West station as part of its crackdown on ticketless travellers on the Western Line. In just eight hours, 8am to 4pm, more than 1,600 persons were fined for travelling on local trains without a valid ticket and collected fines of over ?4.60 lakh. The WR officials term this as one of the biggest ‘fortress checks’. On 1st October 2023, similar ticket-checking drives were conducted at Borivali, Andheri and Dadar stations. The WR officials said they have decided to deploy their ticket collectors (TCs) on stations and trains to take action against violators after receiving several complaints regarding ticketless travellers using AC locals and first-class compartments of the local trains. The Western Railway on 3rd October conducted another massive check at Andheri station involving 199 ticket-checking staff. It broke all previous records, and resulted in the detection of 2,693 errant travellers and recovery of Rs 7.14 lakh as a penalty.”
The official said that the enormity of the action can be ascertained from the fact that not more than 120 to 150 such cases are identified, on an average per day at Andheri which handles on an average 4.25 lakh passengers per day. WR Official said, “We ensured that the TCs formed a human chain on the FOBs and asked for tickets from everyone passing by. We saw people putting it out on social media and M-indicators asking others to buy tickets at Dadar. We want to ensure that people travel with legally authorized tickets and so we shall continue such drives.” A TC said, “We got a good response from the commuters. When we ask the ticket-less travellers about not buying tickets; the common response is that after Covid it has become a habit for them to travel like this. Those caught tell us that they are ready to pay as rarely are they asked for tickets and that it has become a habit.” Sources said that another major difficulty that the staff is facing is the mode of payment. After Covid-19, commuters usually do not carry large amounts of cash with them and rely on digital payment and so the on-ground staff are facing difficulties in getting them to pay fines through cash. Some commuters said, “The railways should ensure that people can pay through digital forms of payment. At least some QR code-based devices should be provided. Moreover, the railways should shut the multiple entry and exit points at railway stations, which becomes an easy way out for ticketless travellers. The railways should bring some control without ticket cases.”
