MADURAI: Reading may be a dying habit, but the Indian Railways’ alleged practice of compulsorily charging Rs 20 from passengers for a pre-decided daily and a water bottle has not gone down well with the passengers. One TM Murthi, who on Saturday travelled in the Tejas Express, claimed the Travelling Ticket Examiner (TTE) on the train compelled passengers to purchase a particular Tamil daily and a water bottle, and charged everyone Rs 20 for it. His Facebook post detailing the incident has gone viral.
Speaking to TNIE, Murthi said he travelled from Chennai Egmore to Madurai by Tejas Express on December 18. “At the time of boarding, I found a water bottle and a Tamil newspaper on my seat. Copies of the same newspaper and bottles were placed on all seats. A family of four, including a child, were also given four copies of the daily,” he said. When the TTE arrived and sought Rs 20 for the newspaper and water bottle, Murthi refused to pay as he had not asked for the same. “The TTE then showed me the passenger list and said he was instructed to collect the amount from all passengers. As I refused to pay, he went on to collect Rs 20 from others,” he added. Murthi has also sent a letter to Union Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw, requesting him to take steps to cease this practice of forcing passengers to purchase pre-decided dailies.
