The district consumer disputes redressal commission in Balangir district held Indian Railways responsible for “deficiency in service” after an unexplained delay of nearly seven hours led Chandi Prasad Khamari to miss a pre-booked flight, resulting in financial loss and mental distress.
According to the complaint filed under the Consumer Protection Act, Khamari had booked tickets for train No. 12129 from Jharsuguda to Howrah on August 23, 2024.
The train was scheduled to depart Jharsuguda at 7:50 PM and arrive in Howrah at 3:55 AM, providing a buffer of nearly four hours for a connecting flight to Guwahati at 8:05 AM.
However, the train left Jharsuguda two hours late and reached Kolkata nearly seven hours behind schedule, causing Khamari to miss his flight and incur rebooking expenses and other losses.
Khamari alleged that repeated complaints to railway authorities did not resolve the issue, leading to the cancellation of the flight and causing him financial hardship, stress, and harassment.
Railway authorities contested the claim, arguing that train punctuality is not guaranteed under the Indian Railway Conference Association (IRCA) coaching tariff and that delays can occur due to operational factors. They also claimed that some segments of the journey were outside their territorial jurisdiction.
The district consumer forum dismissed these claims, stating that the railways operate as a unified public utility service and are accountable for operational delays unless they can prove that the delays were beyond their control.
Citing a Supreme Court ruling in Northern Western Railway and Another v. Sanjay Shukla, the forum emphasized that railway authorities must demonstrate that delays were unavoidable to escape liability.
The consumer forum noted that the railways provided no evidence to show that the delay was caused by extraordinary circumstances. The routine maintenance and safety operations cited by the railways were deemed part of their normal responsibilities and not valid reasons to deny compensation.
“The excessive delay in the train service caused the complainant to miss the flight and resulted in significant loss and mental agony,” the forum concluded, determining that the railways were jointly and severally liable for the consequences of the delay.
The forum ordered the railways to pay ₹20,000 for flight cancellation and rebooking losses, ₹30,000 for mental agony and harassment, and ₹5,000 for litigation costs.
However, the total liability increased significantly after the railways failed to comply with the order within 30 days. The forum imposed additional penalties of ₹500 per day for non-compliance.
With the order reportedly unexecuted for over 200 days, the accumulated penalty reached approximately ₹1.3 lakh. The passenger received this amount on April 19.
The consumer forum stated that public utility services like the railways must exercise due diligence to prevent avoidable delays, highlighting that passengers plan their journeys with reasonable expectations of timely arrival.
