Ambala. When all the agencies of Railways implement rules to break the network of brokers, the brokers find a new way. Air cargo (courier) is also being used to deliver the ticket to the passenger on the same day. Meanwhile, another big issue has come to light that a colored copy of the confirmed ticket is taken out. The network of brokers of Chandigarh has reached Kupwara and Pulwama of Mumbai and Srinagar and many districts of Uttar Pradesh. This game is mostly being played on Tatkal tickets only. For this, a nominal price is charged from the passengers. Vigilance investigation of Northern Railway has revealed tickets of brokers operating from Srinagar to UP and from Chandigarh to Mumbai. Tatkal tickets from Srinagar’s Kupwara and Pulwama were made for UP’s Gorakhpur and Lucknow. Tickets are printed at the station, but passengers have to travel thousands of kilometers away from Lucknow and Gorakhpur. In such a situation, the photo of the ticket is sent through WhatsApp. A colored copy of the ticket is taken out in both the cities.
This type of game is running on many stations. Vigilance looked at both the original and colored printed tickets, both of which look similar. The ticket checking staff is unable to spot these tickets at first sight.
There is a rule to book tickets for six passengers on one ticket. Brokers mostly look for such stations or outside post offices, universities etc., where the number of passengers is very less. At these places, brokers collude and then promote Tatkal tickets through their network. This game is being played daily in many states of the country, and railway agencies are working to break it. Tickets from brokers are also confirmed through VIP quota. Therefore, Railways has instructed the ticket checking staff to check the tickets which are confirmed through VIP quota. Generally, seat numbers for tickets confirmed through VIP quota in sleeper and AC class are issued in advance. The ticket checking staff knows that only passengers with confirmed tickets from VIP quota travel on these seats. Therefore, the ticket checking staff moves ahead only after seeing the ID.