Passengers are entitled to fair service and discrimination in fares constitutes deficiency under Consumer Protection Act.

G.G. Loney, President—This is an interesting complaint filed by the complainant in public interest. The complainant has not claimed anything for himself but has claimed that the excess fares charged and recovered by the Central Railway be set aside as a fund to be used for the welfare of the passengers.

2. In nut-shell, the allegations of the complainant are that the Central Railway attaches “A.C. Chair Car” bogies with “Indrayani Express” and “Deccan Express” plying between Bombay and Pune but the passengers are charged 1st Class fare. According to the complainant, for the similar bogies attached to other trains by the Western Railway, the fares are charged, meant for A.C. Chair Car, as per the Schedule published by the Railway Administration, whereas for the identical bogies (A.C. Chair Car), the Central Railway charges 1st Class fare which is higher than A.C. Chair Car. Passenger fares published by the Central Railway show that the 1st Class Passenger fare between Bombay and Pune is Rs. 94/- and for A.C. Chair Car Rs. 58/-. According to the complainant, the Central Railway charges 40% more to a passenger travelling by A.C. Chair Car between Bombay and Pune. The complainant has annexed with his complaint the zerox copy of the passenger fares published along with the Railway Time Table published by the Central Railway. The complainant has further alleged that just by giving the A.C. Chair Car bogie as 1st Class, it is unethical on the part of the Railway Administration to charge first class fare and, therefore, filed the present complaint claiming that excess fares charged so far be kept aside in a separate fund to be used for the welfare of passengers on this sector with appropriate safe-guards.

3. The Central Railway received notice u/Sec. 13 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 and in response to that filed its reply. The Central Railway has raised preliminary objections. The first objection is that Central Railway is not a juridical person and, therefore, no complaint can be made against the Manager of the Railway Administration. The Central Railway denied the allegations of the complainant that there is any discrimination and unfair practices being followed by the Indian Railway and particularly, the Central Railway in respect of the passenger fares. It is admitted by the Central Railway that the A.C. Chair Car is attached to ‘Indrayani Express’ and ‘Deccan Express’ with improved type of coaches having Air Condition and are designated as 1st Class and therefore, the fares of the 1st Class are levied. No documents are filed by opposite party. Complainant filed zerox copy of passenger fares and additional submissions in support of his claim.

4. We heard the Complainant Shri Q.S. Shipchandler in person and Shri A.N. Sawant, Advocate for the Central Railway.

5. According to the complainant, the National Commission and other State Commissions have ruled that the traveller is a “consumer” and is entitled to the benefits of the service of the Railway. Although the Complainant-Shipchandler is not able to point out the exact citation, we found the judgment of the National Commission. It is in 1st Appeal No. 3/88 G.M. South Eastern Railway and Others v. Anand Prasad Sinha & Others. In that appeal, the National Commission has taken the view that the traveller is a “consumer” of the facilities in connection with transport and the Railway Administration provides Transport facilities. The observation of the National Commission are extracted and stated as under: —

“We are constrained to observe that we are indeed surprised that such a plea should have been put forward by the South Eastern Railway Administration. The expression “service” contained in Section 2(1)(0) of the Act (Consumer Protection Act, 1986) specifically includes within its scope the provision of facilities in connection with transport. The Railway Administration is providing transport facilities to the public for consideration paid by them by way of the fare, levied f