Flight Missed As Train Ran Late: Supreme Court To Examine If Railways Should Compensate Passengers

The Ministry of Railways has challenged the order of National Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission that upheld the compensation awarded by District forum. The decision was based on the ground that the Railways could have estimated the delay and passed on the information to the passengers, and hence this constituted negligence and deficiency in service.

A Division Bench comprising Justices KM Joseph and Ravindra Bhat while issuing notice to the Respondents (i.e., Ramesh Chandra & others), agreed to consider the issue of jurisdiction of the forum and nature/extent of liability of Indian Railways.

The Bench has issued notice subject to condition that the Union of India through the Ministry of Railways will deposit a sum of 25,000 with the Court's Registry within a period of 4 weeks.

The Court has however made it clear that it is not staying the execution of the order of National Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission dated 21st October, 2020.

The Union of India through the Ministry of Railways has argued before the Supreme Court that if the Impugned order is executed, it will lead to the opening of a Pandora's Box causing a flood of litigation before the Foras, thereby creating a bad precedent for the cases relating to refund of fares.

It has been argued by the Indian Railways that the delay was beyond their control; it occured during the journey and not in departure from its originating station Allahabad which was at its scheduled time.

Further, it has been argued that the Commission dismissed its claim without considering the facts that Rule 115 of Indian Railway Conference Coaching Rate Tariff No. 26 Part-.I (Volume I) clearly states that the Railway Administration does not guarantee arrival and departure of trains as per schedule shown in the time table. Therefore, according to the rules, the Railways is not responsible for any damage caused to luggage or any other inconvenience.

Facts: In the present case, a complaint was filed by the respondents before the District Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum, Allahabad against Indian Railways claiming a compensation of Rs.9 lakhs for mental loss, harassment, agony, loss in relationship with in- laws, mainly due to their train being late by around 6 hours, resulting in a missed flight.

The Railways pleaded that the delay was due to unavoidable circumstances and beyond their control as the train was stopped due to some bundles having fallen off from its SLR.

The District Forum, however rejected this contention, and directed the Railways to pay Rs.40,000 to the Contesting Respondents.

When the Railways filed an appeal before the State Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission, Lucknow the same was dismissed, followed by a similar dismissal by the National Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission, New Delhi(NCDRC).

The NCDRC dismissed the claim of the Railways on the ground that the Railways could have estimated the delay and passed on the information to the passengers, and hence this constitutes negligence and deficiency in service.

Also Read: Consumer Forum Holds Railway Officials Liable For Failing To Inform Commuters About Reasons For Delay Of Train

The petitioners were represented by Advocates Anmol Chauhan, Shashank Bajpai, Sughosh Subramanyam, Swarupama Chaturvedi, Amrish Kumar and Ram Bahadur Yadav.

Case Title: Union of India vs Ramesh Chandra & Ors.

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