[Resolved]  Indian Railways — Charging Prices Higher than MRP at Indian Railways Authorised Book Stalls at Railway Platforms

Dear Sir,

I Wish To Inform You That I, Pravin Jain, A Resident Of Darjeeling Came Across A Major Problem Today, A Problem Large Enough To Damage The Reputation Of Our Country And Completely Unethical.

Today Afternoon, While I Went To The Darjeeling Railway Station To Book Tickets, My Pen Stopped Working And I Decided To Buy Another Pen At The Stall On The Station By The Name Of “A.H.Wheeler.Book Stall” Which I Believe Is Approved By Indian Railways, having shops in all Railway Stations and Supposed to be Genuine.

When I Enquired About The Price Of The Pen, The Lady At The Counter Quoted Me Rs 10 And The Same Is Available In The Market For An Mrp Of Rs 5.When I Told Her About The Same She Denied And Another Lady At The Store Said That The Price They Were Charging Was The Mrp And That The Price Cannot Be Reduced. Seeing The Rush At The Railway Counter And The Attitude Of Both The Ladies I Decided To Buy It And Not To Ask For A Bill As The Tickets I Was Booking Were Very Urgent And The Ticket Counter Was Close To Getting Shut Down. It Would Have Created A Big Mess Out There And People Don’t Care Anyways If They Are Charged High Or Not As They Are Too Busy In Their Own Lives Or At Least Pretend To Be. This Is What Gives These People To Take Undue Advantage Of Illiterate And Indifferent Customers Who Either Don’t Know What To Do In Such Cases Or Don’t Care To Take Any Action.

Furthermore Due To The Argument Or Whatever It Was, I Lost A Little But Very Important Time which Eventually Had To Cost Me And It Did As The Counter Just Closed Down Before Me And Another Traveller In Front of Me Could Book Our Tickets and We All Know With The Technology And Pace Of Current Systems Our Tickets Would Have Taken Hardly Another 2 Minutes, More Than Which I Lost During The Argument (Not Including The Time Of Enquiring And Leaving The Counter) and as my work was urgent I had to buy an Airline Ticket which cost me Rs 6000, 5000 more than what I would have paid for the Railway Tickets.


Sir Now This Has Become A Major Problem And Its Not Only Me Who Is Suffering But Thousands Of Others Who Have Been Robbed Of Trust And Safety In Their Daily Lives Whether That Be At A Book Stall Or The Railway Station Or Any Other Public Place . It Is Not About Those 5/- Additional Rupees That I Paid For The Pen And Not Only About Those 5000 Rupees which I paid for the Airline Ticket But About Those Millions Of Principles Which A Mother Teaches Her Child Everyday So That He Grows Up And Becomes A Sincere Person, About Those Consumer Oriented Practices Which Are Taken Least Care Of And Thrown Into The Trash Can., And About Those Thosands of Fair And Ethical Practices which Contribute To India’s Being Known As “Incredible India”

Sir Its High Time That We Do Something Against This And Neccesiate Action By Calling For The Axing Of Such Shopkeepers And Some Other Measures As You May Find Appropriate Because If A Constant Check If Not Kept On Such Activites They Will Keep Creeping Up Like Stone Pebbles In Rice And The World Will Become Like Another Painting Of Mona Lisa, This Time With Never Ending Tears In Her Eyes.



I Don’t Know How Far You Can Compensate Me On This And How Far My Problem Can Be Resolved But I At Least Hope That This Does Not Carry On Any Further And Other Consumers Don’t Suffer Vindication At The Hands Of Such Unethical Practices. I Also Appreciate The Kind Of Websites And Ngo’s Setup By You To Help The Consumers From Exploitation And Must Say That You And Many Others Have Collectively Taken A Huge Step In Stopping All This Unfair Activities. I Would Kindly Also Like To Add A Suggestion If You Don’t Mind. There Can Be Some More Braches Setup At Many Places So That The Consumers Find It More Easier To Know The Procedure To Safeguard Themselves Against Such Practices And Then Even Illiterate And Poor People Can Be Aware Of Their Rights, That Such A System Prevails To Help Them Weather The Storm. They Should Be Made To Feel Important In A Country Having Most Of The Richest People In The World, That They Also Are Taken Care Of And Someone Is Behind Them To Make Them Stand In Case They Fall .

I Will Be Happy If I Can Contribute To Your Organisations /Ngo’s In Some Way Or The Other And Am Willing To Setup A Branch Myself And Make More People Aware About All These Activities And I Also Wish To Add That If, Given A Chance, I Will Try To The Best Of My Abilities To Help Consumers And Try To Setup As Many Branches As Possible And Then The Day Will Not Be Far When All This Can Be Eradicated.

Now That I’ve Typed All My Greviances, Opinions And Suggestions I Wish To End This With The Hope That The End Of My Letter Is Not An End In Itself But The Beginning Of Something Which Can Act As A Guiding Tool To The Generations Of Yesterday, Today And Tomorrow.

Regards,
Pravin Jain.
4 P.T.Lane
Chandmari
Darjeeling - 734101(W.B)
Mob : 0 [protected]