Indian Railways Ruled By Touts: Delhi Fraudsters Rob Rs.100 Crore In Six Months By Forging Used Tickets

Indian Railways has been rocked by a pan-India syndicate of ticketing frauds which has inflicted a loss of over Rs 100 crore.

Fraudsters have been duping the railways of crores of rupees every month by getting a refund on used tickets by forging copies of them.

Railway officials suspect the involvement of insiders who pass on the passenger-related information to this syndicate, which is used to make the fake tickets look genuine. This is, however, the tip of the iceberg. 

Also Read: The Great Railway Ticketing Scam: Many 'Touts' Exploiting The 'Facility' In Passenger Reservation Software!

The syndicate was unearthed by the vigilance department of Northern Railways during routine raids conducted against the unauthorised travel agents and touts. Investigations are soon going to be initiated across the remaining 15 railway zones in the country. 

Senior officials said the monetary loss to the government exchequer may run into hundreds of crores every year. 

“During checks it was noticed that some unidentified men had claimed refund of Rs 60 lakh by cancelling tickets after departure of trains. While the cancelled tickets belonged to trains originating from Delhi, they used remote places in South Indian states to cancel the tickets,” said a senior vigilance official. 

In one such case it was found that six tickets to Guwahati in Dibrugarh Rajdhani Express were cancelled from a reservation counter in Vijaywada after the scheduled departure of the train from New Delhi. 

The ticketing frauds have a unique modus operandi. Having received passenger information from insiders, the fraudsters print fake tickets using the same details. The fake tickets were subsequently cancelled by the gang members at remotely located reservation counters after the departure of train from the source station. 

As per the rules a PRS ticket can be cancelled from any reservation centre across the country and the travellers can get a 50 per cent refund on the ticket price after two hours of train departure. This, officials said, also put the genuine passengers who board the train in trouble. 

Northern Railways chief spokesperson Neeraj Sharma admitted to the fraud and said: “The fraud has been detected by the Northern Railways. Senior officials and members of the Railway Board have been informed and further investigations will be taken up.” 

A senior railway official put the estimated loss to over Rs 100 crore. 
“The fraud detected in Delhi is just one scenario.The syndicate is active across all 16 administrative zones in the country. If gone through the conservative estimate, the initial loss will exceed Rs 100 crore. However, the final figure can be calculated only after carrying out intensive checking and investigation across the country. In all possibilities, the loss will go up many times after taking into account similar frauds conducted in other cities,” said the official. 

Explaining it further, officials said the fraudsters wait till 90 minutes after departure of train and then approach any reservation counter in any part of the country and would ask the official to claim the refund citing his inability to travel. 

The syndicate targeted high-end and long-route trains like the Rajdhani Express, Duronto Express and other sought-after trains. They usually forged bulk tickets where four to six passengers were travelling on a PNR number.

If you are planning a journey on a short notice and fail to get an AC class ticket through Tatkal quota, don’t get disappointed. The touts will ensure that you get your ticket. All you need is to grease their palms. 

Touts, who have become an integral part of railway journeys, are nowadays trying their hand at new ways to make big bucks fast.

An investigation by INNLIVE has revealed that the tickets that are reserved for only VIPs are up for grabs, if you can pay touts extra money. 
It has been exposed that the touts have made a mockery of VIP quota rules with the blessings of railway officials and get tickets booked with ease, which is not possible for the common man. 

One can easily spot the “agents” roaming around and offering tickets to prospective passengers. It did not take more than two-three minutes for the INNLIVE reporter to spot one. 

To the question “where do you have to go (for the ticket)?”, he responded: “You can get a confirmed AC 3-tier ticket on Rajdhani Express.” 

When the reporter asked if the ticket would be in his name, the tout replied: “Yes, 100 per cent boss. You will have to pay Rs 1,000 extra.” 
He took the reporter to the office of a travel agent, which is opposite to the main entrance of the New Delhi Railway Station. The board outside the office read — “a tourist centre approved by the government”. 

Two persons at the office were found to be busy fixing a deal with a group of four people. One of the “agents” asked them: “How many tickets do you need? Rs 1,000 extra should be paid for one Rajdhani Express AC 3-tier ticket.” 

Shockingly, at a time when these tickets were being sold, the IRCTC website showed a long waiting list for the same route on which these passengers were planning to travel. 

To get more details about the operation, INNLIVE visited another shop. The agent sitting inside the shop asked for the same ticket rate. 

“We pay the local police to run our business,” one of the agents said, adding he also share the money with booking clerks at the railway counters and an official at the Railway Ministry to get confirmed tickets under VIP quota.