Thane Law Student Alleges Misbehavior by Railway Officials After Complaint Against Illegal Toilet Charges

A 32-year-old law student from Dombivli has accused railway officials in Thane of mistreatment after he visited the station master’s office to file a complaint against contractors managing toilets at Thane railway station. According to the student, despite the services being free, these contractors have been extorting money from commuters. The commuter alleges that railway officials physically assaulted him while he requested the complaint book and displayed reluctance in fulfilling their duties. Furthermore, he claimed that he was unlawfully detained by railway officials and that the Railway Protection Force (RPF) confiscated his mobile phone without providing any formal notice. This incident has raised concerns among many commuters regarding the illegal collection of money by contractors from passengers.

The incident happened on February 10, 2024 between 1 pm to 2 pm, when victim Kiran Shrirang Shinde went to urinate at Thane Railway Station Platform No. 2 (Kalyan side), and was asked for an illegal rupee by the person who appeared to be intoxicated. When he refused, the person shouted at Shinde. “The question was not just one rupee but as per Railway Board's 'Pay and Use' policy, they are being illegally charged for a service which is provided free of cost, so I walked out of Mutari and went to the station master's office to complain,” told Shinde to LokmatTimes.com.

According to the railways, the Service Provider can charge the users/passengers Rs 2 for using latrine and Rs 5 for using bathroom only or both bathroom and latrine. However, no charge shall be levied for urinals. When Shinde went to the DY.SM office at Thane Platform No.1 to report this, he alleged that the officers did a delay in giving him complaint book. Later, he started shooting a video on his mobile phone depicting the delay tactics “A railway employee forcefully tried to snatch my mobile, an  and rushed towards me. He pushed me hard and tried to fight on my nose, which scared me a lot. As he kept trying to drag my mobile, my mobile video stopped 2-3 times. I repeatedly told him referring to the ‘Official Secrets Act’ that recording in a government office is not a crime in law.”

Later he was detained by the RPF. Shinde asserted that one RPF officer watched all the videos asking him to enter the password of his mobile and confiscated his mobile illegally. “It was about 2 o'clock by the time the staff who misbehaved with me and tried to threaten me physically. They forced him to not register any complaint and tagged me as habitual complainant who complaints just for the sake of it. Shinde told, “I was asked to sit in a corner as like I am a prisoner and was prevented from going out. I was very scared by their threat and told them that I did not want to report anything, so I begged Sub-Inspectors to set me free. But they started scaring me by saying that they would not release me until I delete the video from my mobile by writing meri koi shikayat nahi.”

When LokmatTimes.com confronted the railway officials at the station master’s cabin, the authorities said that frequent action is taken against the toilet service providers who illegally accept charges from passengers. They informed that and fines upto Rs 70,000 to Rs 75,000 is imposed on them. Railway authorities declined Shinde’s charges of misbehaving with him and told that he was creating ruckus by shooting the video and shouting loudly. 

Shinde, who was scared earlier has now posted the entire matter on social networking site X (formerly known as Twitter). On Februray 20, 2024, Shinde also submitted a written complaint to RPF & DRM office CSMT. According to railways, his complaint has been registered on RailMadad and complaint no. has been sent through SMS on his mobile number. As he had his mobile backup, he also posted the videos in which the scuffle in which there is an argument between railway officials and Shinde. 

“When I went to file a complaint about illegal extortion of Urinal, which is free as per Railway Board's 'Pay and Use' policy, the entire system tried to trap the complainant by creating a threat. Due to the injustice of the incident, I was mentally exhausted. Need to take immediate action against guilty employees,” told Shinde.