The Odisha District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum on April 18 ordered Indian Railways to pay a fine of Rs $1.3 lakh for a passenger who misses a connecting flight due to train delay in 2024.
The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Committee in Balangir district on xxx held Indian Railways liable for “deficiency in service” after it found that an unexplained delay of nearly seven hours caused Chandi Prasad Khamari to miss a pre-booked flight and suffer financial loss and mental distress.
According to the complaint filed under the Consumer Protection Act, Khamari had booked tickets for train number 12129 from Jharsuguda to Howrah on August 23, 2024.
The train was scheduled to leave Jharsuguda at 7.50 pm and reach Howrah at 3.55 am, allowing a waiting period of about four hours for a connecting flight to Guwahati at 8.05 am.
However, the train departed two hours late from Jharsuguda and reached Kolkata nearly seven hours late, causing Khamri to miss the flight and incur rebooking expenses and other losses.
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Khamari alleged that repeated complaints before the railway authorities failed to resolve the delay, resulting in the flight being canceled and causing financial difficulties, pressure and harassment.
Railway authorities have disputed this claim, arguing that punctuality of trains is not guaranteed under the Indian Railway Congress Association (IRCA) train tariff provisions and that delays may occur due to operational factors.
They also claimed that certain parts of the flight did not fall within their territorial jurisdiction.
The region’s consumer forum rejected the allegations, arguing that the railways constitute a unified public utility service and remain liable for operational delays unless they prove the delays were beyond their control.
Citing the Supreme Court judgment in Northern Western Railway and Another v. Sanjay Shukla, the forum pointed out that the railway authorities must prove that the delay is unavoidable and beyond their control to escape liability.
The consumer forum said the railways had not shown any evidence to prove that the delay was caused by exceptional circumstances. The routine maintenance and safety operations cited by the railroad were described as part of normal responsibilities and not valid reasons for denying compensation.
“The excessive delay in the train service caused the complainant to miss the trip and led to great loss and psychological suffering,” the forum said, concluding that the railways are jointly and severally liable for the consequences of the delay.
The forum directed the railways to pay $20,000 for flight cancellation and rebooking losses, $30k for mental torture, harassment and $5000 to cover litigation costs.
However, the total liability rose significantly after the railways failed to implement the order within 30 days as directed.
The railways demanded more fines $500 pounds per day for not adhering to the order within the specified time.
With the order remaining unexecuted for more than 200 days, the accumulated penalty increased to approx $1.3 lakh. The passenger received the said amount on April 19.
Public utility services like railways must exercise due diligence to prevent avoidable delays, the consumer forum said in its order, noting that passengers plan journeys with reasonable expectations of timely arrival.
