The elderly couple remembered the train, winning the refund after a 3 -year fight in the court. Bharat News

Bengaluru: A senior Hoody couple captured the railway in the Whitefield and won after refunding a train to a train, as they were ever converted and inaccessible to their reserved coaches, forced them to return home. Bangalore Urban II Additional District Consumer Commission has pulled the South Western Railway (SWR) for a reduction in service and ordered a full refund along with the cost of litigation.On July 1, 2023, the first rejected case by the forum was again challenged by the couple in the State Commission. The appeal was allowed, in which the State Commission had separated the earlier order and directed the forum to read the complaint.The story began when Poorna Ramakrishna and his wife Hymavati booked sleeper class tickets on the Guwahati Express for March 29, 2022, paid Rs 892.5 for the journey from Vijayawada from Krishnarajapuram (KJM) railway station on 13 April. On the day of travel, after the auto reached the station (spending Rs 165), the couple were surprised to pack their S2 coach – and the entire train – passengers, making it impossible for them to board. Along with any railway staff for assistance, they were forced to leave the journey and return home. Despite several representatives and email followers, the Railways neither returned the ticket fare nor gave any clarification or compensation. Left without any alternative, the elderly couple filed a consumer complaint, citing service.In his complaint, he said that he informed the post -railway departure and hoped that ticket deposit receipts (TDR) would be raised. But no TDR was filed and no refund or compensation was issued.However, the Railways denied lack of any service in their defense, claiming that the train was not crowded when he came to the station. In his written response, the railway authorities accepted their tickets, further stated that the train was fully reserved and the unreserved journey was restored throughout the division after Kovid. Therefore, he argued, the couple’s claims were “false and baseless” by unauthorized passengers.Railways said 134 passengers on April 13, except the elderly couple – except the elderly couple without complaints from KJM. Officials said that both did not report any issue to the station master or RPF on duty, and no crowd was given by the employees on the board.The Railways refused to lapse any service, calling the pair’s decision not to ride on personal choice. It also referred to refund rules, stating that the confirmed tickets are non-worthy until it is canceled or filed four hours before the TDR departure.However, on 6 May, 2022, its Railway letter accepted a spike in a ticket -free journey and called for a unreserved tickets to curb revenue loss – a point supported the couple’s claim.Caught the Railways responsible for the couple to be unable to ride in a crowded train during their two-minute stop at 11.53 pm at KJM, the panel said that internal records cannot override on-ground realities. It ruled that the couple faced financial loss and mental anguish due to a clear reduction in service, especially when full fare was collected.In March this year, the Consumer Commission ordered the Railways to return Rs 892.5 and pay Rs 5,000 to the complainants for shortage of service, mental pain, and cost of litigation as Rs 3000 as the cost of litigation.