SC asks Indian Railways to pay Rs 40k as compensation to passengers for 'negligence'

The Supreme Court issued a remarkable notice in a plea filed by the Union of India and directed the Indian Railways to pay a compensation of Rs 40,000 on the account of 'negligence and deficiency in service'. The beneficiaries of the sum were the passengers who could not arrive at the destination owing to a six-hour delay. The SC issued a notice as Indian Railways (IR) could have estimated the long-haul delay and communicated the same to the passengers. The Apex Court affirmed the National Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission's order which upheld the compensation awarded by District Forum and deemed negligence and deficiency in service on part of the railways.

A Division Bench of Justice KM Joseph and Justice Ravindra Bhat agreed to consider the nature and extent of liability of Indian Railways. The Union of India through the Ministry of Railways has been directed to deposit a sum of Rs 25,000 with the Court's registry within four weeks. The Bench further clarified that the Court was not 'staying the execution of the order' by the National Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission.

Indian Railways liable for compensation due to negligence

The Indian Railways argued that the delay was beyond their control and it occurred during the journey and not at its departure time at the originating Allahabad station. According to their submissions, the flight commenced its journey at the scheduled time. Furthermore, they brought to light Rule 115 of Indian Railway Conference Coaching Rate Tariff No 26 Part-I (Volume I) which states that the Railways do not guarantee scheduled arrival and departure of trains as prescribed in the timetable bulletin. Therefore, the Indian Railway was not responsible for any payable damage.

Previously, the District Forum rejected Indian Railway’s plea which stated that the delay was unavoidable while the respondents had filed a complaint before the Forum claiming a compensation amount of Rs 9 lakhs for harassment and loss in relationship with in-laws, due to the delay by 6 hours. The Forum directed IR to pay Rs 40,000 to the respondents. The same was upheld by the State Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission, Lucknow and similar dismissal of IR's appeal followed by the National Consumer Dispute Redressal.