Lok Sabha Question No. 3798 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-12-11
Subject: Ticket Touts
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Chandeshwar Prasad

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3798 TO BE ANSWERED ON 11.12.2019

## TICKET TOUTS

†3798. SHRI CHANDESHWAR PRASAD:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

(a) whether the attention of the Government has been invited towards the activities  of  agents  who  purchase  a  large  number  of  tickets  with  fake names  and  then  sell  them  at  higher  prices  in  collusion  with  some departmental staff;

- (b)  if  so,  the  number  of  such  cases  that  came  to  the  notice  of  railway authorities during the last three years and the current year; and
- (c)  the  action  being  taken  by  the  railway  authorities  to  check  such activities?

ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS AND COMMERCE & INDUSTRY (SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)

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

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STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (c) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3798 BY SHRI CHANDESHWAR PRASAD TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 11.12.2019 REGARDING TICKET TOUTS.

(a) and  (b):  Some  instances  of  misuse  of  reservation  system  do  come  to notice during the checks conducted by Indian Railways, particularly during peak rush period/festival seasons.   Out of total 2803 checks conducted by the zonal Vigilance during the period of last three years and the current year upto  November,  2019,  741  touts/agents  were  apprehended  and  06  Railway staff  were  taken  up  under  Disciplinary  and  Appeal  Rules  due  to  their connivance with the touts.

- (c)  Indian  Railways  has  taken  various  measures  to  keep  a  check  on  the activities of unscrupulous elements involved in malpractices in reservation, some of which are as under: -
- i. Instructions  have  been  issued  to  ensure  that  tickets  are  not  booked  on abbreviated  names  and  full  name  of  the  passenger  and  the  surname wherever applicable are captured at the time of booking reserved tickets.
- ii. Carrying of prescribed identity proof has been made compulsory for one of the passengers while undertaking journey in reserved class.
- iii. With  a  view  to  curb  the  activities  of  unscrupulous  elements  involved  in unauthorized ticketing activities, regular checks are conducted by Commercial,  Vigilance  and  Security  Departments  (Railway  Protection Force) in mass contact areas such as Passenger Reservation System (PRS) centres, booking offices, platforms, trains etc.. Such checks are intensified during peak rush periods like festivals, holidays etc.

- iv. Stringent  action  is  taken  against  the  railway  staff  under  Disciplinary and Appeal Rules, if found involved in malpractices.
- v. Checks conducted at reservation  offices  are  supplemented  by  checks on  the  trains  to  detect  the  cases  of  transferred  reserved  tickets  i.e. persons  found  travelling  fraudulently  against  accommodation  actually reserved in the name of another passenger.
- vi. Surveillance  at  reservation  offices  has  also  been  stepped  up  by installing  Close  Circuit  Television  at  important  PRS  locations  to  keep watch on any possible misuse of reservation system. Booking pattern at reservation offices is also monitored for detecting unusual pattern and fraudulent working of unscrupulous elements.
- vii. In  case  of  online  booking  of  tickets,  checks  have  been  applied  on minimum  time  required  to  enter  the  passenger  details  and  CAPTCHA and no ticket can be booked before 35 seconds. User IDs are checked on daily basis and those IDs found using malpractices like fast booking of tickets are deactivated.
- viii. A limit of booking 6 Railway tickets by an individual user in a month has been fixed in case of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC)  portal.  This  limit  has  been  revised  to  12  Railway  tickets  in  a month for  those  individual  users  who  have  linked  their  IRCTC  user  ID with their respective Aadhaar number and ensured that at  least  one  of

the passengers in the passenger list is verifiable through Aadhaar.

- ix. The authorized reserved ticketing agents of Indian Railways have been restricted from booking tickets during first fifteen minutes of opening of Advance Reservation Period (ARP) booking and Tatkal booking.
- x. General  public  are  also  educated  through  Public  Address  System  and media, not to buy tickets from unscrupulous elements and consequences of buying tickets from these sources.

Taking  measures  to  deter  unscrupulous  elements  from  misusing  the reservation facility meant for genuine passengers is a continuous and an on-going process.

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