Title - Railway goof-up denies refunds to passengers who did not travel

NAGPUR: Even as many e-ticket passengers are waiting to get their refunds for trains cancelled during the Sindi railway tragedy, a couple of cases have come to light where the railways have shown passengers who did not undertake the journey as 'travelled', and denied them refunds for the tickets.While a case relates to June this year, another pertains to last year-end. Both the passengers are still fighting it out with the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), which issues e-tickets. The problem arose after railways showed them as travelled when they actually had not.Jyoti Magarkar (57), a resident of Kalyan, was scheduled to go to Kalyan from Badnera on June 16. She had two tickets - one for 01014 Nagpur-Mumbai special and another for 12152 Howrah-LTT Samrasta Express. Magarkar said the Mumbai special train was scheduled to leave on June 16 from Nagpur at 4pm while Samrasta was scheduled for 5.50pm. Both her tickets were waitlisted. However, on June 16, the Mumbai special train was rescheduled for 9pm. Meanwhile, Magarkar's ticket for Samrasta got confirmed.

"Being alone, it was difficult for me to board the delayed train from Badnera at midnight," Magarkar said.

Magarkar's family friend here Rajendra Mandwale filed a mandatory ticket deposit receipt (TDR) with IRCTC before 5pm on June 16.

"I had travelled with a confirmed ticket in Samrasta. However, on July 2, I was shocked to know that IRCTC had rejected my refund claim on the grounds that I travelled by Nagpur-CSTM special train," Magarkar told TOI.

Magarkar disputed the IRCTC decision with documentary evidence of her travel in Samrasta Express but even after two months she neither received refund nor any reply from officials.

It seems to be a goof-up by the railway travelling ticket examiner (TTE) who endorsed that the passenger travelled by filing an exceptional data report (EDR).

Similarly, Arvind Bhalerao (60), a resident of Nagpur, cancelled his Nagpur-Ahmedabad ticket and filed a TDR for refund. However, IRCTC TDR team wrote to Bhalerao that on September 19, Central Railway denied refund as EDR was not fed in the system. When Bhalerao protested, IRCTC on October 26 told the railway that 'passenger has not travelled' and asked it to reopen the case.

Consumer rights activist Avinash Prabhune said. "Railway Board circular for computerized coaching refund scheme wants to expedite refunds. But, the opposite is happening."