Overcharging passengers for basic items like water is a problem that refuses to go away at railway stations. Recently, a passenger at Vijayawada Railway Station noticed something unfair, a stall was selling packaged water bottles at ₹20, even though the printed Maximum Retail Price (MRP) was INR 15.
The passenger didn’t stay silent. He took to X (formerly Twitter) and posted a photo of the stall, tagging @RailMinIndia and other officials. He made a sharp observation, doing the math on how much the vendor might be earning by breaking the rules.
He wrote:
“At Vijaywada railway station
This stall is charging water bottle 20/- rupee
As per rule its price 15 only
He is selling daily average 1000 pc of bottle
Per day extra curruption 5000 rupee
Please look in this”
If true, that’s ₹5,000 being made illegally every day—and potentially lakhs of rupees over time—just by selling water bottles ₹5 above the legal price. That’s not just unfair, it’s exploitation of regular passengers who may not even realize they’re being overcharged.
The user, Vinod Kumar Modi, also tagged news handles like @aajtak, @ABPNews, and @ANI, asking for action.
Soon after, Railway Seva responded:
“For necessary action escalated to the concerned official
@Drmvijayawada
We request you to please share Mobile No. with us preferably via DM so that immediate action can be taken on your complaint. You may also raise your concern directly on http://railmadad.indianrailways.gov.in or dial 139 for speedy redressal.”
Later, when the user followed up again, Railways confirmed that the complaint had been registered:
“The complaint has been registered and the complaint number has been sent through SMS to the mobile number.”
Five rupees may seem like a small amount, but when it’s being unfairly taken from thousands of people every day, it adds up. It’s great to see that the Railways responded quickly, but this kind of issue should not be happening in the first place. Vendors must follow the rules, and passengers must feel confident that they’re paying fair prices.
Kudos to the passenger for raising his voice. It shows that even one alert citizen can help bring change.