Enquiry ordered against fleecing booking clerks

The clerks at the booking counter would overcharge commuters while issuing tickets and call the surcharge a ‘super express' charge, even though no such charge exists in the Railway ticket fare any longer.

MiD DAY's report on August 6

Sharat Chandrayan, Chief PRO, WR, said, "We are investigating the matter and strict action will be taken if they (clerks) are found guilty."

Modus operandi
The wily booking clerks chose their victims with care, exploiting only poor and illiterate customers. In a sting operation, MiD DAY caught clerks at almost all the counters in Mumbai Central station -- non-suburban and suburban -- fleecing passengers. When some of the more discerning commuters enquired about the discrepancy between the amount they were charged and the amount printed in the ticket, the clerks pretended to be outraged or offended, and shoo them away after providing half-baked explanations.

After MiD DAY did the sting operation on the clerks, they have been put under the scanner of the high level enquiry and action will be taken against them if they are found guilty. "The Railway has a reverse fare board which shows the actual fare of the ticket and the passenger is not required to pay anything above the printed rate," added Chandrayan.

He said that in case the passengers were being fleeced, they should lodge a complaint with the authorities. u00a0