Consumer commission asks railways to pay Rs 2.37 lakh to passenger for theft on train

The apex consumer commission has directed railways to pay Rs 2.37 lakh to a Chhattisgarh resident for theft that occurred in a train in 2013, noting that even after lodging of complaint, no inquiry was made.

The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has directed Western Railways to also pay compensation at the rate of six per cent on the award amount to Raju Devi Suryavanshi, for the theft that occurred while she along with her family, were travelling in a train from Goa to Ratlam.

The commission noted that Suryavanshi's family had made an oral complaint to the Travelling Ticket Examiner (TTE) and even after formally lodging an FIR, the railways made no inquiry regarding the theft that occurred in the train.

"It is pertinent to mention that an oral complaint was made to the TTE and no inquiry of any kind was conducted.

"Even after formally lodging of the FIR it is relevant to mention that no inquiry was made by the railways regarding the theft that has occurred in the moving train. Therefore... we find no reasons to interfere with the concurrent finding of both the fora below," said NCDRC President R K Agrawal and member M Shreesha.

According to the complaint filed by Suryavanshi, she was travelling along with her family to Ratlam on July 16, 2013 to attend a family function.

The next day she found that her purse, in which she had kept her gold and silver jewellery, was missing, along with another purse containing cash of Rs 20,000 from under the pillow, the complaint alleged.

It also alleged that Suryavanshi and her family were travelling in the reserve coach and only because unauthorised persons were allowed in the compartment that the loss had taken place, which amounted to deficiency of service on part of the railways.

Both the lower fora allowed Suryavanshi's complaint and directed railways to pay Rs 2.37 lakh in total for loss of costly items and cash along with interest at the rate of 12 per cent.

However, NCDRC reduced the interest rate from 12 to six per cent.