SC orders Railways to pay Rs 30000 compensation to passenger for train delay

A bench of Justices MR Shah and Aniruddha Bose said that the Railways was liable to pay compensation to the passengers if it fails to explain the reason behind a train delay if they filed a deficiency of service complaint before a consumer forum, according to a Times of India report.

The apex court said that the passengers' time was precious and someone should be held accountable for the train delays.

"These are the days of competition and accountability. If public transportation has to survive and compete with private players, they have to improve the system and their working culture. Citizen/passenger cannot be at the mercy of the authorities/administration. Somebody has to accept the responsibility," the court said, according to the report.

The aggrieved passenger Sanjay Shukla and his family missed a flight on June 11, 2016, scheduled at 12 noon from Jammu to Srinagar following a delay in the arrival of the Ajmer-Jammu Express by nearly four hours, according to the report.

The compensation order was first passed by the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, Alwar and upheld by the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, New Delhi.

As there was no chance of catching the flight, Shukla had to rent a taxi from Jammu to Srinagar at a cost of Rs 15,000 and pay Rs 10, 000 for lodging at Srinagar.

According to a Live Law report, the North Western Railway will now have to pay Rs 15,ooo for taxi expenses, Rs 10,000 towards booking expenses and Rs 5,000 for mental agony and litigation expenses along with 9% interest to Shukla.

Additional solicitor general Aishwarya Bhati contended that in view of Rule 114 and Rule 115 of the Indian Railway Conference Association Coaching Tariff No. 26 Part-I (Volume-I), there shall not be any liability of the railways to pay compensation for train delays.