New Delhi, August 26: Indian Railways have collected fine of Rs.1377 crore from ticketless passengers during three years from 2016 to 2019. The railways have collected fines of Rs. 405.30 crore during FY 2016-17, Rs. 441.62 crore during 2017-18 and Rs. 530.06 crore during 2018-19 as reported in financial statements of railways. The collection of fines has gone up by 31 pc in FY 2018-19 over that of the preceding year.
In the year 2018, Parliament Railway Convention Committee brought the loss of revenue due to ticketless travel to the notice of railway board, following which more intense operation was carried out and more ticketless travellers were caught and fined.
According to data, about 89 lakh passengers were caught without tickets in the first ten months of current financial year. Per ticketless passenger, a fine of Rs. 250 is collected. If it is not paid on the spot, the passenger is handed over to Railway Protection Force. In this case, he is produced before magistrate who can again levy maximum Rs. 1000 or jail him upto six months.
