CHENNAI: A travel ticket examiner (TTE) from the Chennai railway division allegedly extorted Rs 500 from two female college students at Chetpet railway station on Thursday. According to the victims, the TTE claimed they had been sitting on the station platform for too long.
The TTE allegedly demanded a penalty of Rs 1,060 from four college students but ultimately accepted Rs 500 without issuing any receipt, the affected passengers said. He justified the charge by alleging that their prolonged stay at the station was a violation and their return journey paper tickets were not valid. The tickets were purchased at 9.30 am in Tambaram.
However, officials from the Chennai railway division clarified that return journey tickets are valid for both onward and return trips and remain valid until the last local train of the day in the section.
One of the victims, a 20-year-old student, told TNIE that she had travelled from Chrompet to Chetpet with three of her friends. “We bought four paper return tickets from Tambaram to Chennai Beach around 9.30 am. Each ticket cost Rs 20. I boarded the train at Chrompet while my friends travelled from Tambaram. After we met our friends at Chetpet, all four of us reached Chetpet station around 2.15 pm waiting for a train,” she said.
Around 3 pm, a TTE approached them and questioned why they had been sitting there for so long. “He claimed our tickets were invalid. He took us to a room along with four to six other passengers and said we had to pay a penalty of Rs 1,060 for ticketless travel.
A woman TTE later came to the room, insisting us to pay the penalty. We only had Rs 500, which we paid, but were not given a receipt. The TTE took our paper tickets and refused to return it. So I purchased a new ticket and returned home,” the student added.
A spokesperson from the Chennai railway division said that in cases of questionable penalty charges, complaints can be filed either with the station master or through the Rail Madad application.