IRCTC received over 5k food-related complaints in past 7 months: Gov

NEW DELHI: The IRCTC has received more than 5,000 complaints related to quality of food in trains in the past seven months, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Wednesday. Replying to a query in Lok Sabha, Vaishnaw said between April 1, 2022, and October 31, 2022, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation received a total of 5,869 complaints of food quality in trains.

''On receipt of any complaint of food quality, appropriate action, including penalty, is taken against the service provider of IRCTC.

''It is the continuous endeavour of Indian Railways to provide good quality and hygienic food to passengers as per norms and standards prescribed by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI),'' the minister said.

He also informed that the 'Optional Catering Service' has been introduced in all premium trains (Rajdhani, Shatabdi, Duronto, Gatiman, Tejas, Vande Bharat) with effect from September 2019. ''In this scheme, passengers are being provided with the option, at the time of booking tickets, to opt out of the pre-paid catering facilities being provided in these trains,'' he said.