Passengers Can Seek Compensation From Indian Railways If Their Train Arrives Late, Know About Rules

In the order, the Supreme Court bench stated that the railways needed to explain why was the train running late while proving that the factors behind the delay were beyond their control.

Representative Photo

New Delhi: The Supreme Court recently gave a landmark observation as it stated that every passenger's time is "precious" and that the Indian Railways is liable to pay compensation to impacted passengers unless it proves that the reason for the delay in train service was beyond its control.

The Supreme Court upheld the NCDRC's decision that North-Western Railway is liable to pay Rs. 30,000 as compensation to impacted passengers. This included Rs. 15,000 for taxi expenses, Rs. 10,000 for booking expenses and Rs. 5,000 for mental agony and litigation expenses.

A bench of Justices M.R. Shah and Anirudh Bose refused to accept North Western Railway's appeal against the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) order. The NCDRC had upheld the compensation order passed by the lower consumer court, which had approved Sanjay Shukla's complaint.

Shukla along with three others was unable to catch a flight to Srinagar in 2016 as his train arrived at Jammu Tawi station four hours after the scheduled arrival time. They had boarded the train from Alwar in Rajasthan.

So what statement did the Supreme Court give?
The court did not agree with North-Western Railway's argument that the late running of the train cannot be termed as a reduction in railway services. The court also dismissed acceptance of some of the plaintiff's rules which say that there will be no obligation to pay compensation for North Western Railways in case the train runs late as there can be many reasons behind trains running later than scheduled times.

In the order, the bench stated that the railways needed to explain why was the train running late while proving that the factors behind the delay were beyond their control. However, the railways failed to do so. There can be no dispute on the fact that every passenger's time is precious.

Know the rules applicable in case of train delays:
In India, trains running late is a common occurrence. However, there is no mention of compensation a passenger is liable for in case the train arrives later than usual. According to the rules, if a train is more than three hours late, passengers can get a full refund by cancelling the ticket. In such cases, the passenger needs to file a TDR to get a refund. On the other hand, if you have suffered a major loss due to the train delay, you can lodge a complaint with the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) for compensation.