(i) IRCTC is charging a premium on the e-ticket price and earning huge profits. IRCTC provides only the facility for transacting with Indian Railways’ PRS System through internet. For this facility, service charge is charged over and above the normal ticket price. In addition to above mentioned charges, if ticket is booked through IRCTC authorized agents, an extra agent service charge, is also levied. Then there is a payment gateway charges for making online payment to purchase e-tickets. Very recently Railway Group has started a new e-Wallet scheme to address the problem of failed transactions. However, this scheme has been kept optional and under the scheme many unfair conditions including payment of transaction fee has been imposed. However, this scheme has been kept optional and under the scheme many unfair conditions including payment of transaction fee has been imposed.
(ii) The service charge imposed on e-Tickets is non-refundable, even if the passenger needs to cancel the ticket. The service charge is an extra-burden on the passenger over and above the cancelation charges imposed as per Railway rules.
(iii) In case of tickets booked through internet, no concession is permitted except for senior citizens. Reservation of tickets with break journey is not allowed for e-Tickets. Maximum of 10 tickets can only be booked per month.
(iv) Under Tatkal Quota, a huge inventory of available tickets is hoarded, based on type of train and class of travel. The Tatkal quota tickets are sold at huge premium of upto Rs.400 over and above the normal price. The booking of these tickets start only one day in advance, creating artificial scarcity and gives rise to numerous illicit practices by touts and agents.
(v) Unfair and discriminatory cancelation and clerkage charges: Clerkage is a charge levied for the clerical work rendered in refund of fares on cancellation of unreserved, wait-listed & RAC tickets. The present amount of clerkage charge is Rs. 30 per passenger, except for second class unreserved tickets where it is Rs. 15. Similarly, if the ticket is presented for cancellation more than forty eight hours in advance of the scheduled departure of the train, cancellation charges of upto Rs.120 are deducted from the amount refunded.
(vi) Compulsory food in Rajdhani and Shatabdi Express: The ticket price for Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains has the component of catering charges in-built. No option is provided to the passenger and the passenger is compulsorily required to pay the ticket prices inclusive of catering charges, which artificially inflates the railway journey ticket price and amounts to tie-in sales.
(vii) Limiting provision of IRCTC agents: The Railway Group has limited the availability of IRCTC agents by charging unreasonable fees for appointment as agents. The one-time fee of Rs.20, 000 and annual fee of Rs.5, 000 is prohibitive for people desirous of becoming agents. There is little or no economic rationale for this and it acts as an entry barrier and leads to overcharging of customers. The entire fee-scheme is geared towards rewarding the big entities with multiple locations, with discounts of upto 95%. This further acts as a barrier for the smaller agents.
(viii) Long-term contracts for food vendors at railway stations: There is usually a single food court monopoly at the larger stations, created by the Railways itself. There is effectively no competition for these food courts and people who cannot afford the expensive meals at these outlets have no other alternative.
(ix) Restriction in Technical and Scientific Development: The public information system on trains is wholly inadequate. There is a rudimentary system available on the Rajdhani Express and other such Express trains. There is a discrepancy between the features and facilities available on the IRCTC website and those available on the Agent’s websites. There have been virtually no gains made in increasing train speed and reducing the duration of travel on the trains. Special preference is granted to premium trains over other trains, unfairly discriminating against passengers of other trains. The Railways has abused its dominant position by not making adequate efforts to improve safety features, increase the frequency of trains etc. Any decision on these issues is usually made from a political perspective, rather than keeping in mind the best interest of the travellers. By not improving such crucial technical capabilities, the Railways has further abused its dominant position and restricted technical and scientific development in this field.
