People have a tendency to travel ticketless in trains. However, railways have become strict and are apprehending ticketless travelers and imposing fines on them. Railways are taking harsh steps to deter commuters from travelling ticketless. The Western Railway (WR) snitched as many as 19.19 lakh passengers for ticketless travel from April 2019 to November 2019 recovering Rs ₹93.96 crores in fine. “This is a record collection and is more compared to fines collected in 2018,” an official said. “We also caught thousands of beggars and unauthorised hawkers. As many as 103 persons were sent to jail,” another official said.
Mainly, the Western Railway recovered fines worth ₹11.16 crore during regular checks in the month of June this year. The penalty was drawn from nearly 2.32 lakh ticketless and unreserved luggage cases on WR across Mumbai, Bhavnagar, Rajkot, Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Ratlam. The fines recovered also exceeds the previous year collection of the same month by ₹2.92 crores. Along with this, 209 beggars and 607 unauthorised hawkers were arrested and fined. Moreover, 153 people were sent to jail for violating the law.
Western Railway Chief Public Relation Officer (PRO) Ravinder Bhaker said that the amount was 9.46 per cent higher than 2018-2019. He further stated that in November alone, the WR recovered ₹10.59 crore in 2.14 lakh cases of ticketless travel including those of un-booked luggage. Moreover, they have apprehended as many as 336 beggars and 363 unauthorised hawkers. 1,861 checks against touts and anti-social elements between April and November were conducted by Railway’s Commercial Department.
In 2018, a Parliament Railway Convention Committee which inspected the financial report of the railways for 2016-17 had expressed their dissatisfaction over the loss of revenue arising out of ticketless travel. Subsequently, the Railway Board directed its zonal railways to intensify drives against ticketless travel across the country and fix annual targets for every TTE. If a passenger is caught travelling ticketless, they have to pay a minimum fine of Rs 250 along with the cost of the ticket. If the person refuses to pay the money or does not have the money, he is handed over to the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and booked under Section 137 of the Railways Act. Later the person is presented before a magistrate who can impose a fine of as much as Rs 1,000 on him. If the person still fails to pay the fine, then he may be imprisoned for a tenure of six months.
Rules and Regulations :
Type of Fines and Amount of Fines
- a) Travelling without proper pass/ticket (Sec. 138Railway Act)
Punishment: Ordinary single fare for the distance which he has travelled or from the station from which the train started and the excess charge i.e. `250/-
- b) Travelling Fraudulently (Sec. 137Railway Act)
Punishment : 6 months jail, fine `1,000/-or both.
- c) Alarm Chain Pulling (Sec. 141Railway Act)
Punishment:12 months jail, fine`1,000/-or both.
- d) Travelling in Coach Reserved for Handicapped Passengers(Sec. 155 (a) Railway Act)
Punishment: 3 months jail, fine `500/-or both.
- e) Travelling on Roof Top (Sec. 156 Railway Act) Punishment:3 months jail, fine`500/- or both.
- f) Trespassing (Sec. 147 Railway Act)
Punishment : 6 months jail, fine `1,000/- or both.
- g) Nuisance and Littering (Sec. 145 (b) Railway Act)
Punishment : 1st offence` 100 fine, 2nd & subsequent ` 250, one month imprisonment.
- h) Bill Pasting (Sec. 166 (b) Railway Act)
Punishment: 6 months jail, fine ` 500/- or both.
- i) Touting (Sec. 143 Railway Act)
Punishment: 3 years jail, fine`10,000/- or both.
- j) Unauthorised Hawking (Sec. 144 Railway Act)
Punishment : One year jail, fine min.`1,000/-, max. `2,000/- or both.
