Lok Sabha Question No. 281 (STARRED), answered on 2017-03-22
Subject: VIP Quota in Trains
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: CHINTAMANI MALVIYA, RAVINDRA KUMAR RAY

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.281 TO BE ANSWERED ON 22.03.2017

## VIP QUOTA IN TRAINS

†*281.  PROF. CHINTAMANI MALVIYA: DR. RAVINDRA KUMAR RAY:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state :

(a) whether  the  Government  proposes  to  make  HOR/VIP  quota paperless in the Railways so as to save paper and if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor ;

- (b) the average number of requisitions made by the Members of Parliament under the above quota in a year;
- (c) whether instances of emergency quota released on the basis of forged/fake letters have been reported in the recent past and if so,  the  details  thereof  along  with  the  corrective  action  taken thereon; and
- (d) whether multiple bookings and no show by VIPs have caused much inconvenience  to  the  travelling  public  as  waitlisted  tickets were not confirmed and if so, the details thereof and the corrective action taken thereon?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS

(SHRI SURESH PRABHAKAR PRABHU)

(a) to (d):    A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO PROF. CHINTAMANI MALVIYA AND DR. RAVINDRA KUMAR RAY 22.03.2017

(d) OF STARRED QUESTION NO.281 BY TO BE ANSWERED  IN LOK SABHA ON REGARDING VIP QUOTA IN TRAINS

- (a): In  order  to  meet  the  urgent  travel  requirements  of High  Official Requisition (HOR)  holders  (like  Cabinet Ministers, Speaker of Lok Sabha, Governors, Chief Justice/Judges  of  Hon'ble  Supreme  Court/High  Courts, etc.),    Members  of  Parliament,  and  others  including Members  of  Legislative  Assemblies/  Councils, former Members  of  Parliament,  Government  officials,  cancer patients,  general  passengers  etc,    who  are  required  to travel  at  short  notice,  a  limited  number  of  berths/seats have been earmarked  as Emergency  Quota  (EQ) in different trains and in different classes.

For HOR holders and Hon'ble Members of Parliament holding  waitlisted  ticket,  confirmed  accommodation  is provided  out  of  Emergency  Quota  even  if  no  written request  is  received.    Hence,  to  this  extent  it  is  already paperless.      For  the  remaining  paperless  mode  has  not been adopted due to the following reasons:-

- (i) It will deprive those persons who do not have access to internet.
- (ii) In case of any investigation/court case, documentary evidence is required which will not be there in case it is made paperless.
- (iii) At present, it is easier to verify the genuineness in case of physical request than online request.

However, with a view to promote cashless ticketing system  and  to  promote  cashless  transactions  various initiatives have been taken by Indian Railways including the following:-

- i. Provision of facility of online booking of reserved tickets through Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) website. The payment for tickets booked through IRCTC website is  made through various cashless modes such  as  net  banking,  through  credit/debit  cards, cash cards and e-wallets.
- ii. The facility of booking unreserved ticket including  journey,  season  and  platform  tickets through  mobile  phone  has  been  introduced  in  all suburban  sections  of  Central,  Western,  Southern, Eastern,  South  Central,  South  Eastern  and  DelhiPalwal  section  of  Northern  Railway.    Additional payment options under the digital modes have also been  introduced  to  widen  the  scope  of  digital payments  for purchase of unreserved tickets. Further, facility of renewal of season tickets through  IRCTC  website  has  been  provided  for suburban  train  services  on  Western  and  Central Railways wherein payment is made through electronic mode.
- iii. It has been decided to install 10,000 Point of Sale (POS) machines in association with State Bank of India  at  various  locations  of  Indian  Railways  i.e. PRS locations, UTS locations, Parcel/Goods locations. At present, more than 4000 POS machines  have  been  installed over the Zonal Railways.
- iv. An advanced version of the mobile application for booking of reserved tickets has also been launched  by  IRCTC  giving  additional  options  of cashless payment.

- v. Service  charge  on  online  booking  of  tickets  has been withdrawn for the tickets booked from 23.11.2016 to 31.03.2017.
- vi. Service charge applicable on transactions against credit/debit cards for purchasing journey tickets at Unreserved  Ticketing System  (UTS)/  Passenger Reservation System (PRS) counters has been withdrawn.
- vii. Online booking facility for accredited press correspondents on the basis of registered ID card has been launched.
- viii. International  Credit/  Debit  cards  issued  outside India are accepted for booking of e-tickets through IRCTC website.
- ix. Free  accidental  insurance  cover  of  upto ` 10  lakh for  confirmed/RAC  passengers  in  case  of  tickets booked online from 10.12.2016 to 31.03.2017.
- x. Provision  of  0.5%  discount  on  season  tickets purchased through digital  means with  effect  from 01.01.2017.
- xi. Provision of 5% discount on payment made online for availing services like online booking of retiring rooms with effect from 01.01.2017.
8. (b) As per extant instructions the requisitions pertaining  to  release  of  Emergency  Quota  are  to  be preserved for a period of at least three months from the date of journey.  On a daily basis, Indian Railways on an average handles Emergency Quota in different classes of more  than  3500  trains  across  all  Zonal  Railways  for which a large number of requests from various quarters are  received  and  hence  it  is  practically  not  feasible  to collect and compile information of such requests category-wise.

As such these requests are preserved for the stipulated period but are not compiled.

(c): Isolated instances of requests received on fake/forged letter-heads for release of berth out of Emergency  Quota  do  come  to  notice  and  action  as  per provisions  of  law  is  taken  in  such  cases.  Instructions have  also  been  issued  that  the  requests  received  from various  quarters  for  release  of  berths  out  of  Emergency Quota  should  be  checked  from  time  to  time  and  where there is a doubt about the genuineness of the requests/letters,  the  position  may  be  checked  up  by speaking to the person concerned on phone for ensuring the genuineness of the requisition.

(d): Some instances of making multiple reservations on the  same  day  in  different  trains  in  the  same/different directions by high dignitaries do come to notice where it is not feasible to undertake journey on the same day. The train(s)  in  which  high  dignitaries  do  not  travel,  goes vacant  whereas  the  passengers  on  waiting  list  cannot board the train.  With a view to streamline this procedure and to facilitate booking/cancellation of reserved tickets online,  it  has  been  decided  to  provide  the  facility  of booking reserved tickets by Hon'ble Members of Parliament/former Members of Parliament through internet.

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