Giving a ray of hope to wait-listed passengers holding e-tickets, the Supreme Court has asked the Ministry of Railways to consider allowing them to board the trains and occupy berths if passengers having confirmed tickets do not show up.
At present, wait-listed passengers holding e-tickets are prohibited from boarding the train but those holding tickets in the physical form can get berths owing to a no-show of the passengers with confirmed bookings.
Dismissing an appeal filed by the Railways, a Bench headed by Justice Madan B Lokur asked it to consider doing away with the discrimination between those holding tickets in the physical form and those having e-tickets.
The Supreme Court Bench also asked the Railways to come up with a plan to ensure that touts and agents do not block seats in bogus names, which can later be given to passengers with wait-listed tickets after charging extra money.