A district consumer commission in Punjab has directed Indian Railways to refund Rs 5 and pay Rs 10,000 in costs to a passenger who was short-changed by Rs 5 while seeking a refund on a cancelled train ticket. The district consumer commission, Ludhiana, passed the order on a complaint filed by Premjit Singh, a 41-year-old Ludhiana resident, against the Station Master, Ludhiana, and the Divisional Railway Manager, Ferozepur Cantt.
What was the issue
Singh had booked two tickets from Hisar to Ludhiana for himself and his father on February 28, 2023, paying Rs 330 by his debit card at the Ludhiana railway station counter. He cancelled the tickets on March 2, 2023, a day before travel, citing some personal reason. Railways deducted Rs 240 as cancellation charges, leaving Rs 90 due as a refund. But when Singh checked his bank statement in January 2024, he found that only Rs 85 had been credited. He called the railway helpline, visited the station to show his ticket and bank statement, and approached the ticket counter staff as well but got no clear explanation for why he was charged another Rs 5. He eventually sent a legal notice and filed a consumer complaint, seeking the Rs 5 refund. The railways in its defence argued that the Rs 5 had been deducted by Singh's own bank, the State Bank of India, and not by them.
What did the commission say
The bench, comprising President Sanjeev Batra and Member Monika Bhagat, found that a 2017 railway board notification allows banks to charge a "refund fee" of Rs 5 on refunds up to Rs 1,000 when processing them through POS card machines, which clearly explains why the Rs 5 was deducted. However, it noted this fee was supposed to be "conspicuously displayed" at counters with POS machines, and railways could not show that this had been done or that Singh was informed of any such deduction before the transaction. "Even the said notification has been produced by the railway department at the fag end of the proceedings and it appears that the OPs precisely Station Master, Ludhiana and Divisional Manager being the senior in the hierarchy of Railway were not aware of such arrangement between the OP railway and the State Bank of India," the commission said.
The commission also pointed out that railways produced this notification at the fag end of the proceeding and that even the railway officials handling the complaint were not aware of this bank-railway arrangement. "Even after the deduction, the OPs did not share any reason for charging the refund fee to the complainant and as such, the complainant has been condemned unheard," the commission added. The commission concluded that railways had "indulged in unfair trade practices" by refunding Rs 5 less than what was due, entitling Singh to a refund and compensation. It partly allowed the complaint, directing Railways to refund the Rs 5 and pay Rs 10,000 in composite costs within 30 days, failing which the amount would attract a penalty of Rs 200 per day until paid.
