Consumer Court orders Southern Railways to pay compensation to passenger for train delay

The commission pointed out that the railway authorities failed to provide advance information and facilities to the passengers despite being aware of the problem.

Kochi(Kerala): The Ernakulam Consumer Court ordered the railways to pay Rs 60,000 compensation to a passenger, who faced inconvenience due to the train delay in Kerala. The Ernakulam Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has ordered Southern Railways to give compensation to the passenger for the inconvenience caused by the delay of Chennai-Alleppey Express by 13 hours.

The railways argued that the complainant did not inform the purpose of the journey in advance and that is why the authority failed to take precautionary measures. The Consumer Court rejected the arguments of the railways. The Commission found that the delay of the train was due to the reconstruction work of the railway yard at Arakunnam in the Chennai division.

The commission also pointed out that the railway authorities failed to provide advance information and facilities to the passengers despite being aware of this. The commission reminded that getting high-quality service is not a bounty of railways, but a right of passengers. A bench comprising commission president DB Binu, members Vaikom Ramachandran and TN Srividya ordered the Southern Railways to pay Rs 50,000 as compensation to the passenger and Rs 10,000 as court expense within 30 days.