MATHURA, India — After almost 22 years and more than 100 hearings, a railway passenger in India has won a legal battle over being overcharged by 20 rupees (25 cents) for a pair of tickets.
The BBC reports that Tungnath Chaturvedi, a lawyer in the state of Uttar Pradesh was charged 90 rupees instead of 70 in 1999 for tickets between Mathura and Moradabad, a trip by rail of about 175 miles. After he failed to get a refund from the ticket agent, he filed a case against Indian Railways’ North Eastern Railway, as well as the ticket clerk, in consumer court. The railway fought the case, saying it should be heard by a railway claims tribunal, but Chaturvedi won a 2021 Supreme Court allowing the case to be heard by the consumer court.
Indian consumer courts specifically deal with cases related to services, but are overburdened and cases can take 10 to 15 years to be decided.
In that court’s ruling last week, the railway was ordered to pay a fine of 15,000 rupees ($188), plus the 20 rupees with 12% interest per year. If the payment is not made within 30 days, the interest rate increases to 15%.
“It’s not the money that matters,” Chaturvedi told the BBC. “This was always about a fight for justice and a fight against corruption, so it was worth it. Also, since I am an advocate myself, I didn’t have to pay money to a lawyer or bear the cost of traveling to the court. That can get quite expensive.”
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