Indian Railways’ Drive Against Ticketless Travelers Bears Fruit As National Transporter Earns Rs 1,377 Crore In 3 Years 

The Indian Railways earnings from ticketless passengers hiked by 31 per cent from 2016 as they earned Rs 1,377 crore via penalties from passengers travelling without a ticket in the past three years, the Financial Express reports. In 2016-17, Railways earned Rs 405.30 crore in penalties from ticketless travellers.

The details were released after a Madhya Pradesh based activist had filed a Right to Information (RTI). Data which came showed that around 89 lakh passengers were caught travelling without tickets in the first 10 months of the current financial year.

In 2018, the Parliament Railway Convention Committee was concerned over the loss of income due to ticketless travelling. After inspecting the financial report of 2016-17, the Railway board directed zonal railways to reinforced the drive against ticketless travelling. They also began to fix annual targets for every Travelling Ticket Examiner.

In 2017-18, railways earned Rs 441.62 crore, and in the following year, Indian Railways earned Rs 530.06 crore. Passengers travelling without tickets need to pay Rs 250 over the ticket cost. If they deny paying, the person is handed to the Railway Protection Force (RPF), and booked under Section 137 of the Railways Act.

The person is then presented in court which can fine him for Rs 1,000. In case, he or she still refuses to make the payment, they face imprisonment for up to six months.