Book 36 unauthorised vendors who allegedly sold spurious bottled water, packaged food; are even suspected of stealing passengers’ belongings; the accused were apprehended with large quantities of water bottles kept inside Rail Neer cartons
The accused (in blue uniforms) were nabbed with bottles of a local water brand concealed inside the IRCTC’s Rail Neer cartons. PIC/BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
The Railway Protection Force (RPF) cracked down on 36 unauthorised hawkers selling edibles on long-distance trains while donning legitimate Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) uniforms on April 4. The accused were apprehended with large quantities of water bottles kept inside Rail Neer cartons. The RPF has arrested nearly 3000 vendors and eunuchs over various irregularities on both long-distance and local trains in the past month in Mumbai and adjacent regions, according to officials.
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An RPF source said, “The hawkers worked for two contractors that are empanelled with the IRCTC and are based in Bhusawal. Though the contract is still valid for both firms, the hawkers lacked valid documents.” The accused were booked by the Igatpuri Government Railway Police (GRP). The RPF officers will now be writing a letter to IRCTC to immediately blacklist the firms whose hawkers were caught with forged documents and incurred heavy losses to government revenue.
ID cards seized from the hawkers that bear forged signatures of an IRCTC signatory. PIC/BY ARRANGEMENT
The sale of Rail Neer, packaged drinking water, has been made mandatory on all trains and all static catering units at railway stations, said a senior RPF officer. “Rail Neer is processed, purified and bottled at state-of-the-art plants. But these unauthorised hawkers have been selling some local brands that are causing heavy losses to the government. We have confiscated 50 packets of local water bottles from their possession.”
Besides revenue loss to the Central government, the unauthorised hawkers are also suspected to be involved in the theft of passengers’ belongings on long-distance trains that have no facility for pantry cars, said the officer, adding, “These unauthorised hawkers are a big threat to the security of Indian Railways, as they pull chains to load or unload catering material. They are also a fire hazard as they discard bidis and cigarette butts inside trains. They also overcharge passengers and if a passenger raises their voice against this, these unauthorised hawkers gang up to intimidate/thrash passengers, etc. We strongly suspect that these unauthorised hawkers are involved in all these illegal activities.”
Legit hawker ID requirements
“To make an authentic identity card to sell food and beverages on trains that lack pantry cars, one needs to submit a medical fitness certificate after undergoing a thorough examination at a railway hospital, a police verification certificate and one’s Aadhaar card to the contractor, who forwards them to the IRCTC, requesting the official to issue an identity card for a limited period to hawk wares inside trains that have no pantry car,” said the officer.
“But these hawkers had been carrying fake ID cards that had forged signatures of an authorised IRCTC signatory,” said the officer. “The medical fitness certificate is required to check whether the hawker has a contagious disease or if the hawker is fit to serve food and beverages to passengers. A police verification certificate is required to check if the hawker has a criminal background because the safety of passengers as well as the railways is important; and the Aadhaar card is required to cross-check the address and other credentials of the hawker seeking an ID card from IRCTC,” said the RPF officer, requesting anonymity.
The TSV system
The IRCTC manages Train Side Vending (TSV) contracts on Mail/Express and Superfast trains which do not have pantry cars. Under this system, the on-board vendors take orders from the passengers from a menu chart provided. In accordance with the specified order, the vendors collect the food at the nominated ‘meal pick up points’ and then supply it to the passengers. The racket was busted under the supervision of Senior Divisional Security Commissioner, Mumbai, Rishi Kumar Shukla and Assistant Security Commissioner, Kalyan Sub-Division, Narendra Mohan Vashisth of the RPF, added the officer.
Team that busted scam
A total of 12 RPF personnel were handpicked to gather intelligence on hawkers illegally providing catering services on long-distance trains starting from CSMT and Kalyan and terminating in various states via Igatpuri and Lonavla. “We had formed four teams comprising handpicked 12 RPF personnel who successfully cracked the network of unauthorised hawkers, who had been also overcharging passengers on trains,” said another RPF officer.
“It is difficult for passengers to ascertain genuine IRCTC-approved hawkers on local and long-distance trains, said the officer, adding, “The general manager has been insisting on digitisation. So, it is advisable to issue an ID card to hawkers along with a QR code which anyone can scan using a smartphone to learn the credentials and permit/validity of the hawkers,” he added. Sources said the two contractors for whom the 36 hawkers worked are under the scanner.
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