Railway vendor slapped with a heavy fine for bringing out tea from train toilet

A video, which is reported to date back to December last year, went viral on social media recently and has evoked huge outrage from people. In the video, a railway vendor is seen coming out of a train’s toilet with tea cans and handing them to a fellow vendor.

The incident was filmed by a passenger on the Chennai Central-Hyderabad Charminar Express and the video, after being uploaded on social media, went viral to catch the attention of the concerned officials.

In the wake of this, the South Central Railway has advised IRCTC to impose a fine of Rs 1 lakh against the train side vending licensee, as this contract is now with IRCTC.

In a note released by the South Central Railway, it has been informed that the incident happened at Secunderabad station in Train No 12759 MAS-SC Charminar Express and the vendors were unauthorized hawkers engaged by the Platform catering stalls at Secunderabad station. It has also been informed that the vendor claimed he hadn’t mixed any water from the toilet. However, the punishment has been imposed for bringing tea cans out of the toilet, which the note termed as “wrong practice.”

The recent video has once again brought to the fore the unhygienic practices being followed by some vendors in catering food to the rail passengers. Such incidents have drawn the ire of the public in the past and have pushed the officials to take stringent actions for ensuring clean food and hygienic conditions.