‘Is This Right?’ Woman Slames IRCTC for Alloting Upper Berths to Senior Citizens

Viral News: A woman vented her frustration on social media regarding her experience with the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation ( IRCTC ) after booking three train tickets from Patna to Delhi on train number 12309 for October 10. 

Despite selecting two lower berths and one side lower berth for two women and a senior citizen, she received two upper berths and one middle berth, even though more than 200 seats were available at the time of booking.

Nidhi Shree, the passenger, said that despite selecting two lower berths and one side lower berth for two women and a senior citizen, she received two upper berths and one middle berth, even though more than 200 seats were available at the time of booking.

The tickets were for her in-laws, including her 61-year-old father-in-law, a senior citizen.

 “I specifically chose one side lower and two lower berths, but instead, I was allotted two upper and one middle berth,” she wrote in the caption. Shree added that she didn’t use the senior citizen quota because only one of the travelers qualified as a senior citizen and there were plenty of seats available.

She shared that her 61-year-old father-in-law and 23-year-old sister-in-law were assigned upper beds, while her 54-year-old mother-in-law was given the middle bed. Woman tagged IRCTC and Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in her post on X (formerly known as Twitter) to highlight her ordeal.

See her post: 

In response, RailwaySeva, the official support handle on X, shared a post, stating, “In the computerized reservation system of Indian Railways, there is a provision for allotting lower berths automatically to senior citizens and female passengers above the age of 45 years or pregnant women. It is, however, subject to the availability of such lower berths at the time of booking.”

Additionally, they pointed out that when booking tickets online, there is an option to select "only if a lower berth is available" to ensure a lower berth is secured.