Title - Too many agents of IRCTC adding to woes of passengers in festive seasons

New Delhi: Planning to go home this festive season? Seeing a multiple rise in the number of IRCTC agents, you would find it a dreadful task to do so as they are making the availability of tickets too difficult.

There are lakhs of agents standing between you and your railway ticket. Certainly, your case could be exceptional if you are ready to pay 3-4 times more than the counter price of the tickets. IRCTC has authorized lakhs of the agents during past six years.

The figures accessed by an RTI activist, Manorajan Rai, are certainly a cause of worry for all those who want to head back to home this festive season. These figures clearly show that the agents involved in ticket booking process are making a common man deprived of railway tickets.

According to figures, the number of authorized railway agents in Mumbai zone has zoomed to a whooping 1,35,157 from a mere 1,537 during 2006-2012. One can now imagine the leap in the number of agents all over the country. Railway agents of Mumbai zone book around one crore tickets in every month.

But there is a sharp increase in this number during the festive seasons and the agents charge several times more than the actual fare charge from the passengers. The surprising fact is that IRCTC is well aware of these practices of the agents but instead of taking any initiative, it continues to authorize hundreds of agents every day.

The RTI activist believes that railway is not at all worried about the problems faced by the passengers due to the black marketing of tickets. The railway in fact motivates the agents to make more collections from the passengers. The activist also said that railway does not take action against the agents who violate ticket booking norms.