Railways launches internal probe

Mumbai: The Ministry of Railways is understood to have initiated a full-fledged probe into the Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) financial indiscretions and squandering money on certain dubious expenses.

Official sources indicated how the IRCTC’s recent admission of splurging a staggering Rs 2,619-crore only for “the upkeep, maintenance and running of the website”, blew up a storm in the monolithic railways - with speculation of further repercussions in coming days.

The sources declined to reveal the details of the officers conducting the investigation and whether any deadline has been set for it – amid speculation of further repercussions in the coming days.

The amount collected as ‘Convenience Fees’ - as per a RTI reply given to Pune businessman Prafful Sarda – was shown as spent in the past three years and the issue was first highlighted by The Perfect Voice (May 17).

The Nagpur-based consumer body, Council for Protection of Rights (CPR) President Barr. Vinod Tiwari petitioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav and others, seeking probes by the ED, CBI, SEBI, CAG, Vigilance Department, etc. into the blatant goings-on in the IRCTC.

As per fresh information available, in the past three years the IRCTC earned a whopping Rs. 2,302.52 crore via online ticket bookings of which Rs.351-crore was collected as GST.

“This amounts to an ‘online extortion’ of the masses and goes absolutely contrary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘Digital India’. Earning the money through blind levies has turned the whole thing into a potential mega-scam. The government should hold the Railway Minister, IRCTC and Railway Board accountable for this major lapse,” demanded Sarda.

The CPR chief pointed out that almost one-third (30.33%) of IRCTC’s income came solely through Internet ticketing as per its Annual Report (2023-2024), plus the consumers have to cough out GST and other hidden UPI charges, etc.

“Since this has become ‘monopolistic’, the government must award the online ticketing to a suitable company through a transparent competitive bidding process. Moreover, steps should be taken to levy maximum Re. 1/- per online/digital transaction in public interest by any/all entities. Otherwise, what is the use of going online,” asked Tiwari.