New Delhi: The Indian Railways has cracked down on over 1.78 crore ticketless and unaccounted passengers in the first nine months of 2021-22. This information came out in response to an RTI query. It has seen a 79 per cent increase over 2019-20 last year. During the coronavirus pandemic, the figure was only 27 lakh in the 2020-21 financial year.

The Railway Board has provided the data in response to the RTI filed by Madhya Pradesh-based social activist Chandrashekhar Gaur. The RTI also revealed that during April-December 2021, more than 1.78 crore passengers were caught travelling without tickets/improper tickets and unbooked goods and an amount of Rs 1,017.48 crore was collected from them as a fine.

According to media reports, for the financial year 2019-2020, which was not affected by the coronavirus pandemic, 1.10 crore people were found travelling without tickets and a total of Rs 561.73 crore was collected from them as a fine. Between April 2020 and March 2021, i.e. the financial year 2020-21, 27.57 lakh people were caught travelling without tickets and a fine of Rs 143.82 crore was collected from them.

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