Railway booking clerks fleece passengers in a hurry
Siddharth.Prabhakar@timesgroup.com
Chennai:15-01-2019
During raids conducted at various ticket booking offices across Tamil Nadu from Friday to Sunday, officials from Southern Railway’s vigilance department have stumbled upon a scam where a section of booking clerks were found to be making money by cheating passengers who bought unreserved tickets and were leaving in a hurry.
During festival breaks such as Pongal, the queues at the unreserved ticket counters swell as migrant labourers travel back home to northern and eastern states. Buying a ticket takes at least 30-45 minutes due to peak rush.
Sources said booking clerks capitalise on the rush and the illiteracy of the labourers to pocket a part of the loose change that is to be returned to them. The lack of a fare list to frequent destinations at Central and Egmore also plays to their advantage. 90% of railway’s passengers travel in the unreserved segment.
Railway sources said two of the five railway employees under scanner in the Chennai Central parcel scam were among those who were found with ‘excess cash’ of ₹200-₹500 at the Moore Market Complex (MMC) booking office by vigilance officials. Booking clerks and ticket checkers are not supposed to have any undeclared cash during work hours. Any cash on them is construed as a bribe taken, sources said.
Another modus operandi followed by these clerks is to print tickets on separate paper sheets. While up to four tickets can be printed on the same sheet, only two or three are booked deliberately and the clerk would pocket the difference for 4 tickets, said sources. A third way is to levy superfast charges even when the train isn’t one.
The earning potential for a single shift is around ₹5,000 said a senior officer-bearer of an employees union, who has worked as a supervisor in Central’s booking office.
“This is why only particular chosen ones manage to get posts at booking offices,” he added.
Sources said booking clerks capitalise on the rush and the illiteracy of the labourers to pocket a part of the loose change that is to be returned to them
Siddharth.Prabhakar@timesgroup.com
Chennai:15-01-2019
During raids conducted at various ticket booking offices across Tamil Nadu from Friday to Sunday, officials from Southern Railway’s vigilance department have stumbled upon a scam where a section of booking clerks were found to be making money by cheating passengers who bought unreserved tickets and were leaving in a hurry.
During festival breaks such as Pongal, the queues at the unreserved ticket counters swell as migrant labourers travel back home to northern and eastern states. Buying a ticket takes at least 30-45 minutes due to peak rush.
Sources said booking clerks capitalise on the rush and the illiteracy of the labourers to pocket a part of the loose change that is to be returned to them. The lack of a fare list to frequent destinations at Central and Egmore also plays to their advantage. 90% of railway’s passengers travel in the unreserved segment.
Railway sources said two of the five railway employees under scanner in the Chennai Central parcel scam were among those who were found with ‘excess cash’ of ₹200-₹500 at the Moore Market Complex (MMC) booking office by vigilance officials. Booking clerks and ticket checkers are not supposed to have any undeclared cash during work hours. Any cash on them is construed as a bribe taken, sources said.
Another modus operandi followed by these clerks is to print tickets on separate paper sheets. While up to four tickets can be printed on the same sheet, only two or three are booked deliberately and the clerk would pocket the difference for 4 tickets, said sources. A third way is to levy superfast charges even when the train isn’t one.
The earning potential for a single shift is around ₹5,000 said a senior officer-bearer of an employees union, who has worked as a supervisor in Central’s booking office.
“This is why only particular chosen ones manage to get posts at booking offices,” he added.
Sources said booking clerks capitalise on the rush and the illiteracy of the labourers to pocket a part of the loose change that is to be returned to them
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