From littering fines to penalising ticketless passengers, the penalties imposed by the Delhi Division of Northern Railways have fetched a whopping Rs32 crore in 2015-16. The imposition of fines has also led to railways witnessing a rise of 5 per cent in passenger earnings.
According to the data given by the Delhi Division of Northern Railways, around 14.02 lakh passengers were fined with railways collecting Rs30.92 crore from this alone. The figures went high last year than in year 2014-15 when nearly 12.75 lakh passengers, fetching Rs25.99 crore. Senior officials said the fine varies from Rs100-1,000 depending upon the offence. Nearly 10,076 were apprehended for travelling in ladies coach last year as against 9,357 passengers in 2014-15.
“Our focus was to curb the menace of ticketless passengers. We identified the ticketless prone stations and areas and conducted random checks, bus raids and surprise ticket checks. We recovered penalties and fines, but the best part is that we saw the number of ticketless passengers going down. Even though around 4,000 trains were cancelled this year due to agitations and protests, but even then there is a 5 per cent rise in passenger earnings. This goes to show that the number of ticketless travellers is declining too,” said Arun Arora, Divisional Railway Manager, Delhi Division of Northern Railways.
Similarly, Rs66.83 lakh was recovered with 66,108 passengers being penalised for littering stations. In 2014-15, more than 26 thousand were caught with railways collecting Rs26, 39,400. “The littering fines are not only a deterrent but also sensitise passengers about maintenance and cleanliness. The behavioural change is visible among the passengers,” Arora said.