Title - Railways unearths ticket scam worth lakhs

BELGAUM: A team of South Western Railway audit officials has uncovered a unreserved ticketing system (UTS) racket running into several lakhs.The fraud came to light a few months ago when railway officials smelt a rat at the Tiptur and Chamarajapuram railway station counters.A short distance ticket is printed over a long distance ticket. The booking clerk pockets the difference between the two tickets. On the unreserved ticket on the top right, there is an eight digit number and below a four digit number. The last four digits of the eight-digit number should match the below four-digit number. If they do not match, it is a fake ticket. When the accounts department staff spotted the mismatched tickets, a probe was ordered. The railways thus unearthed several mismatched tickets issued through the Unreserved Ticketing System. The railways are now conducting a detailed check into the systems and account books.When railway officials pointed to the discrepancy in the numbers on the ticket at Tiptur and Chamarajapuram station, the booking clerks altered it manually. They clerks were suspended.
A further probe brought to light that the fraud is rampant at Bhadravathi, Shimoga, Davanagere, Arsikere and other stations of Bangalore division. The booking clerks at Arsikere, Shimoga and Bhadravathi have been suspended and are likely to be transferred to other places pending an inquiry. The fraud is suspected to be around Rs 15 lakh.

Last week supervisors were told how to identify or detect the fraud. The auditors will submit their report to the headquarters in Hubli. The probe is expected to be completed within three months.

When TOI contacted Vinod Kumar, Divisional Railway manager, Mysore division, South Western Railway, he said that the incident came to light a few days ago. "The auditors brought this to our notice and an investigation is on. More details will be revealed once our probe is complete," he added.