A suitable penalty has been imposed on the service provider, IRCTC said.
Shocking videos showing Vande Bharat passengers asking the train staff to take back their almost untouched food trays are going viral on social media. Taking to X (formerly Twitter), user Akash Keshari (@akash24188) shared the clips and claimed that the food served inside the train was stale. One video showed the passengers asking the train staff to take their food trays away, while another showed a close-up of the food served in tin foil packaging. In the caption, Mr Keshari expressed his disappointment and asked for a refund. He also tagged the official accounts of Indian Railways, Vande Bharat Express and Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.
"Hi sir I am in journey with 22416 from NDLS to BSB. Food that was served now is smelling and very dirty food quality. Kindly refund my all the money.. These vendor are spoiling the brand name of Vande Bharat express," Mr Keshari wrote while sharing the videos.
Take a look below:
Since being shared, Mr Keshari's post has amassed more than 2,700 views and several comments. The video also caught the attention of Railways Seva, who assured the Vande Bharat passenger that the complaint had been officially registered on RailMadad. "Your complaint has been registered on RailMadad and complaint no. has been sent through SMS on your mobile no.," the railway officials wrote. They also urged Mr Keshari to share his PNR and mobile number, through Direct Message (DM), for further assistance.
The official account of Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation Ltd (IRCTC) also responded to the post. "Sir, our sincere apologies for the unsatisfactory experience you had. The matter is viewed seriously. A suitable penalty has been imposed on the service provider. Further the service provider staff responsible have been disengaged and the licensee has been suitably instructed. The monitoring of the on-board services has been further strengthened," they wrote.
Further, the IRCTC informed that a fine of Rs 25,000 has been imposed on the licensee for the "poor quality of meal". "Licensee has been strictly warned to improve their quality of meal/mini meal," they added.
Meanwhile, in comments, users also recalled similar incidents. "Same is condition on Rajdhani also. For that matter if you are standing at platform & if any mail express train happens to pass be it Rajdhani/Vande Bharat the stink which is left on platform is unbearable. Trains are dirty no cleaning takes place & we give lectures on Cleanliness," wrote one user.
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"What is this going on..It's shame, we want to compete with international standards and still we can't provide basic services. Food in railway is always substandard. Everyone is on commission and they don't care for passenger, Brand name. They will say sorry and will give false promises. There are always 1000 of complaints about Railway service. But Rail authority is deaf and acting dumb, Government is trying to do best but some corrupt people are spoiling whole picture. @IndianRailMedia," commented another.
A third user also recommended that the Railway authorities should prefer dry snacks over cooked meals. "Irctc need to stop food as cooked food will stale after few hours, specially the omlette is very dangerous if cooked 6 hours b4 eating it. Better supply dry snacks like chevda or any dry snack with good tea or coffee," they wrote.