Railways to adopt no bill no payment policy

To prevent overcharging for food supplied by railway pantry cars, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has advocated a policy of "if no bill, your food is free".

This means, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), which has started taking control of the management of catering in trains, will ensure that the pantry car staff gives a  bill to passengers for the food they supply.

If the pantry car staff fail to provide a  bill, then passengers need not pay the money to them.

With the national transporter receiving a number of complaints by passengers that the pantry car staff are collecting exorbitant money for the food they supply, the minister has instructed the IRCTC put in place a system where passengers will get to know the amount he  will pay for the food he has ordered.  

The minister has also asked the IRCTC to ensure that all pantry car contractors  implement a system where an  instant bill is provided to passengers once they get the food.    

The IRCTC has started deploying its own inspectors on  trains to monitor the catering staff in the trains.

It also started a pilot run on the Karnataka Express, which leaves daily from Bengaluru City for New Delhi, where handheld machines  were provided to the pantry car staff for providing printed bills to passengers for ordering food.

The IRCTC already started publishing a message in its ticket booking website that the passengers must demand a bill for ordering food from pantry cars,

The railway ministry's Twitter handle also displays the charges of food, including breakfast, lunch, water, tea and coffee supplied in the train, and has requested the passengers not to pay more than that.  

Last year, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in its report said overcharging for food is the biggest problem in the Railways.