By ABHEESHEK BATHIJA : I have had a very bad experience at the Surat railway station and all the people in the entire system seem to be involved in the fraudulent activity. I also met people who are also victim to the same. This needs to be highlighted to the public so that they can be careful and also the administration so that necessary action is taken.
It has been repeatedly observed that there are a lot of ticketing agents at the Surat railway station reservation counter indulging in fraudulent activities and cheating the passengers. These modus operandi of these cheat agents, who operate in groups of 4-5 members, approach the passengers wishing to travel in heavily booked trains promising them confirmed tickets for Rs. 50/- or Rs.100/- extra as agent charges. They take more money than the ticket fare from the passenger telling that they are special tatkal quota charges. They stand in the queue in the pretext of getting the ticket(saying that it is at the counter still) and then they(group of 4-5) circle the passenger(mostly alone) and demand another 500-700 rupees and say that they have paid the amount to the counter person who they claim is a part of their network in helping them to get the VIP tickets. They refuse to give the passenger his ticket and also his money back. When the helpless passenger relents and gives them the extra 500 rupees then they take the ticket out of their pocket and give it to the passenger. When the passenger objects they claim that the ticket only looks like an ordinary ticket and has an internal dealing which will clear the same in the VIP quota. When the police personnel stationed there are called they also agree to the same and support these rouge agents. It appears like they are also a part of the entire duping program. I request the administration to observe the same and take necessary action on these people who are a nuisance to the public and cheat a lot of passengers, especially the floating population, so that they are not caught.
ABHEESHEK BATHIJA
Senior Engineer,
Design,
Shipbuilding,
L&T Hazira Works.