IRCTC Vendor Overcharging on Train — How to Report a Railway Pantry Scam Worth Crores

Rohan Gupta boarded the Sampark Kranti Express in early March 2025 for what he expected to be a routine 30-hour journey from Nagpur to Lucknow. Hungry after the first few hours, he ordered a veg thali from the pantry car staff. The staff member asked for Rs. 185 per thali — the same price for veg and non-veg alike. Rohan paid without suspicion. He ordered a veg cutlet at breakfast and paid Rs. 55. On his return journey on the same train roughly ten days later, the exact same pattern repeated.

Back home in Pune, while booking his next trip on the IRCTC app, Rohan stumbled onto the official onboard meal menu. The authorised price for a veg thali was Rs. 80 — with dahi included. He had been charged Rs. 185, without dahi. Non-veg thali: official price Rs. 130, charged Rs. 185. Veg cutlet: official Rs. 40, charged Rs. 55. He did the arithmetic. Across just five 3AC coaches carrying roughly 60 passengers each, with multiple meals per journey and the train running four times a week, the total fraudulent overcharging easily crossed Rs. 2 crore annually — and that was a conservative estimate covering only 3AC.

Rohan initially filed a complaint through the IRCTC grievance portal and sent emails to the Railway Ministry's helpline. Automated responses. Nothing moved. A friend referred him to Advocate Sudhir Rao, whose experience with consumer fraud and organised railway vendor scams gave the matter a very different shape. A structured complaint was filed before the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission in Pune under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, alongside a formal criminal complaint citing Section 318 BNS and Section 316 BNS. The matter was taken up, the vendor's contract came under scrutiny, and Rohan received a refund with compensation within a reasonable timeframe.

You can read about this case in detail at https://sudhirrao.com/irctc-vendor-overcharging-train-pantry-scam-how-to-report/