From,
Subrahmanya Bhat B
Lecturer, Dept of C.S
Srinivas Institute of Management Studies
Mangalore, Karnataka – 575001
Ph No: 0824-2441022 (O), 9449452177 (M)
To,
Divisional Regional Manager,
Southern Railway
Palghat, Kerala.
Sir,
Sub:
In the interest of the public, a complaint on your staff member at divisional office, Palghat.
I am writing this letter to you just to know about how your customers are being tortured by the southern railway people in Palghat, Kerala.
As an tourist, I visited Rameshwaram on 7-04-08 with my family and came back to Madurai on 8-04 at 1.15PM. I was planning to go to Palghat next, so as to catch the Mangalore train at 9.10PM. But at Madurai bus stand, a private travel agency named “Vishnu Travels” miss guided us by telling that there is a bus now at 1.30PM to Coimbatore and from Coimbatore it is just 20 minutes journey to Palghat and I can easily get the Mangalore train at 9PM in Palghat. Later he charged me Rs 240 for the 2 full ticket, and since I was not knowing the exact price, I paid the full amount.
Latter when we reached Cimbatore, it was 8.30 PM and we came to know that Palghat is still 1 hour journey from Coimbatore. Immediately we went to the Coimbatore railway station, so as to catch the Mangalore train, but by then the train had already left the station at 8PM.
Latter when I asked for the cancellation of the ticket at 9.30PM in Coimbatore, the railway staff asked me to go to Palghat and get it cancelled, by saying that the ticket has to be canceled from where the ticket is booked.
We came to Palghat by next train on an open ticket and reached Palghat at 1.15AM. When I requested your staff (at counter no 2), for cancellation and to get new ticket for Kasargod, he asked me to come after 3AM, as the next train to Kasargod, “Chenai Mail” scheduled to arrive at 4.20AM on the station. When I came at 3AM, I could not find the person at counter no 2. But the next counter (no 3) was open at that time. So when I asked the lady in counter 3, she told me that cancellation cannot be done here. Latter she asked me to go to the “Information Counter” so as to cancel the ticket.
So I went to the “Information Counter” at 3.05AM on 9-04-08, but the person refused to cancel my ticket saying that my ticket has lost the validity as it is already 6 hours late from the departure of my train. When I narrated him all the story, including the request made by me at 1.15AM at the same station, he was very much reluctant and said ticket cannot be cancelled based on the 6 hour delay. Then I told him “my ticket shows the departure time as 9.10PM, and if I calculate 6 hours from 9.10PM, I have the validity till 3.10AM, now it is just 3.05AM …”, but he did no accept it.
Latter I went to the railway police counter and complained about this matter. He took me to his higher officer and he called up the counter person and requested him to cancel the ticket for me, but he did not.
Finally the police officer asked me to give a written complaint to your address and gave me your address. Again I went to the “Information Counter” to know the persons name.By that time, the person at counter no 2, came in search of me and asked me the ticket for cancellation. I told him about the non cooperation from the other staff. But he took me to that “Information Counter” and got the ticket cancelled for me.
Later when asked the persons name at “Information Counter”, with great difficulty he replied as “Mr. Rajesh”. I don’t know whether hat is a true name of the staff or not, because he was not having any name plate while on duty. But he is the one on duty at 3.AM on 9-04-08.
Sir, at this time, I don’t have any proof against your staff at “Information Counter”, because he has not given me anything in writing. So I cannot go for any legal proceedings against neither the railway nor the concerned staff, for whatever the “Inconvenience” and “Mental Agony” which I faced on that day. My kind request to you is that, being in a responsible position, you need to exercise your power on the concerned staff, so that innocent people like us should not be tortured like this in future days. For a person like me with education and fighting nature, had to face such an difficulty in getting the ticket cancelled and got the refund, that too in an divisional office like Palghat, then what could be situations of other people in rest of railway stations. I hope this is not a new methodology from your side, so as to boost the railway profit. I hope you will react for this written complaint, and initiate necessary actions so as to prevent any further such incidents in future, which certainly creates very bad opinion for the public on the entire railway department as a whole. We always look forward to see Service Oriented People at the public service counters. With regard to this, for any further clarifications, you can contact me in the above mentioned address.
Thanking You,
Subrahmanya Bhat B
Place: Mangaore
Date: 12-04-08
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