Railways asked to pay Rs 10K for harassment to passenger

Indian Railways has been directed by a consumer forum here to pay Rs 10,000 as compensation for the harassment suffered by a passenger, who was made to run from one station to another to get his ticket cancelled.
The East District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum held the Railways liable by relying on the complainant's statement as the state-owned enterprise had not opposed his contentions.
The forum directed Railways to pay compensation to Delhi resident Shiv Kishor Pandey who had alleged he was made to run from one station to another by the authorities for cancelling his ticket, which despite his efforts, was not done.

"As per complainant, due to change in his programme, he wanted to cancel the ticket but despite approaching opposite party 1 (Shahdara Railway Station) and 2 (Old Delhi Railway Station) well in time, the ticket was not cancelled and he was to made to suffer inconvenience by travelling from one station to another.
"It is a settled law that uncontroverted evidences cannot be disbelieved and there is merit in the claims of the complainant. It is also noted by this forum that in spite of opportunities, opposite parties opted not to contest the case. In these circumstances, we find they are liable to compensate the complainant for the losses/harassment suffered by him," a bench presided by N A Zaidi said.

In his complaint, Pandey said he had purchased a ticket from Shahdara railway station here by paying Rs 165 for travelling from Delhi to Faizabad in Uttar Pradesh, but had decided to cancel his ticket due to a change in his programme.
When he had approached Shahdara railway station to cancel his ticket, he was told it can only be cancelled at the station from where journey was to begin i.E Old Delhi railway station, which in turn told him the ticket can be cancelled only from where it was purchased, Pandey alleged.