Along with Haryana and Punjab, shopkeepers at all the railway stations under the Ambala Division can no longer charge more from customers. Shopkeepers will now not only have to sell eatable to customers at a fixed price but they will also have to give bill for the items being purchased by customers. If the shopkeeper doesn't provide the bill for purchase then he/she will have to sell the product free of cost.
The initiative has been taken by Ambala Division following the instructions by Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal. The initiative has been titled 'No Bill - Food is Free'. The initiative by the Ambala Division aims at bringing transparency and all the catering unit vendors have been provided special uniforms (T-shirts) carrying a message, ‘No Bill — Food is Free’.
It also mentions a complaint number - 9729539980 where a traveller can call and complaint about food. A customer can call on this number if he/she is being overcharged or is denied bill for the purchase he/she makes.
“In compliance with the instructions made by the Railways Minister, the division has taken an initiative to provide special uniform to bring transparency and discourage any sort of overcharging by catering vendors at the stations of the Ambala Division. The T-shirt also carries messages regarding Digital India, Swachh Rail-Swachh Bharat and payment through UPI/BHIM application,” The Tribune quoted Hari Mohan, Senior Divisional Commercial Manager, Ambala, as saying.
Investigation will be initiated as soon as complaint is registered in the number. The initiative is being supervised by Dinesh Chandra Sharma, Divisional Railway Manager (DRM), Ambala division.
The first-of-its-kind initiative taken by the Ambala Division has been implemented at all stations of the division such as Ambala Cantonment, Saharanpur, Yamunanagar, Jagadhri, Rajpura, Sirhind, Patiala, Dhuri, Bathinda, Kalka, Shimla, Abohar, Malerkotla, Sangrur, Nabha, Roopnagar and Nangal.
In January this year, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal had said that ‘No tips please, if no bill, your meal is free’, printed on a tin plate with a rate list of the menu will be publicly displayed on trains by March, 2019. The Union Minister also issued directions that a single helpline number for all non-security complaints be developed by the end of January 2019.
The Railway Minister also advised that PoS (point of sale) machines with swipe and bill generating facility should be distributed in all trains to each catering staff and TTEs by March 31, 2019 and it will help address the complaints of overcharging by the caterer.
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