Caught littering rly premises? Pay Rs 500!

Mumbai: Commuters beware! If you’re caught littering or spitting while at railway stations or on platforms, you will be fined Rs 500. The railway has empowered almost all its officers, belonging to any department, to levy fines for spitting or littering on railway property. Which means that in addition to the ticket collector (TC) or station master (SM), a senior officer from say construction, engineering, electrical or even freight can slap a Rs 500 fine on you if caught in the act.

The change in policy comes at a time when the railway has been struggling to invoke civic sense among passengers but has been largely unsuccessful at that. Officials said that the move marked a sea change in the railway’s approach from making an appeal to bringing down the hammer on defaulters. “With this change in policy, every senior-level officer can bring a passenger found committing either or both offences to accountability,” said an official.

Officials have been instructed to help the railway in keeping premises clean, their department notwithstanding. “To give you an example, if an officer, while checking cables on the track, or coordinating with the gang men/linemen, sees trash being dumped on the platform or the foot-over-bridge, he can ask the defaulter to cough up the fine,” the official added.

The railway has invoked section 198 of the Railway Act, by which, any railway servant can perform any duty that benefits the overall working of the railway.

Nirmal Takemgarh, ex-member, divisional railway users’ consultative committee (DRUCC), welcomed the move and said, “This move if implemented in the way it should be, will be extremely beneficial. Passengers need to be told that this is not going to work anymore.”

“I think if people are fined and the new rule becomes public knowledge, the common man will think twice before dirtying railway premises,” the official added.