HYDERABAD: In response to an article published by TNIE, ‘Pax Unhappy as charges of portable toilets at Sec’bad station not uniform’, on Tuesday, the authorities on Wednesday put up prescribed rate charts at the makeshift washrooms.
Despite having a common contractor for maintenance, the charges imposed by the staff were inconsistent.
While facilities running on some of the platforms were charging as high as Rs 10 and Rs 20 for the washroom facilities, a few others were levying the prescribed rates — Rs 2 and Rs 3.
As per the prescribed rate chart of the SCR, urinals could be used for free, toilet facilities for Rs 3, and bathing for Rs 5.
Interestingly, the prices of two washrooms running on a single platform — platform 1, one of the busiest platforms at the station — also varied from each other.
“The staff maintaining the portable cabin washrooms have been directed to not hide or pull apart the rate charts from now on,” a senior official of the commercial department, which supervises the sanitation facilities, told TNIE.
A contractor, Padmaja Reddy, told TNIE, “I have taken disciplinary action against one of the staff, who was found overcharging passengers. In the coming days, I will also take action against the other staff who were involved in this practice.”
Meanwhile, some passengers also complained of the foul smell coming from the makeshift washrooms. Authorities assured them that they would conduct regular maintenance checks to address the issue.