BENGALURU: The consumer forum has directed the Chief Regional Manager, Railways, to cough up Rs 6,500 as compensation for serving a dosa with an iron screw in it, to one (retd) Col R C Gupta.
The consumer forum comprising president T Shobhadevi and member V Anuradha said that the complainant had proved deficiency in service on the part of the Indian Railways. The forum further said that the defence of the Railways that they are not responsible for any acts of the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) at Yeswanthpur Railway Station, Bengaluru, is unacceptable.
The forum directed the Railways to pay Rs 5,000 towards the cost of the dosa and mental agony caused to the complainant and also to pay Rs 1,500 towards his legal expenses.
On October 31, 2014, R C Gupta, a resident of Shanthinagar in the city, and his wife visited the IRCTC outlet at Yeswanthpur Railway Station. Before boarding a train, Gupta placed an order for a dosa. When the dosa arrived, Gupta found an iron screw in it. When he called the manager and showed him the screw, the manager was arrogant.
After much persuasion, the manager provided Gupta a complaint book and he finally lodged a complaint. Initially, the manager refused to accompany Gupta to the station master to show the defective food item. The manager subsequently followed Gupta to the station master at Yeswanthpur Railway Station and signed on the complaint as an eyewitness along with the catering manager. On November 8, 2014, Gupta lodged another complaint online.
Gupta then followed up the matter with all the officials concerned through phone and email, seeking compensation. On April 28, 2015, responding to the telephonic enquiry of the complainant, V Sriram, Regional Director, IRCTC, Chennai, advised him to approach the consumer court and seek relief.
Accordingly, Gupta approached the consumer court.
In its objections, the railways contended that the licence to operate the food plaza at Yeswanthpur Railway Station has been given to P K Shafi and as per the tender, Shafi alone is responsible for the fulfillment of the license conditions. Shafi, on the other hand, has appointed a sub licensee M/s Kamat Yatri Nivas for operating the vegetarian segment at the food plaza, Yeswanthpur. Meanwhile, the Railways assured Gupta that necessary action will be taken to ensure that such incidents do not recur. The Railways collected a fine of Rs 10,000 from the contractor for deficiency in service. However, it did not pay any compensation to Gupta.