Ministry of Railways issued a new Catering Policy on 27/02/2017. Under this Indian Railways provide catering services in trains as per the prescribed standard and tariff. Regular and surprise inspections are conducted to check quality, quantity and overcharging of food on Indian Railways. All complaints including those pertaining to overcharging are dealt strictly. Stringent punitive actions including monetary penalty, debarring and termination of contract are taken as per the gravity of the complaint. In addition, to curb overcharging, Indian Railways have taken following measures:
1. Prominent display of Menu/Tariff through various means viz. websites, social media, newspaper, trains at a glance etc. mandatory with waiters.
2. Deployment of onboard IRCTC supervisors for continuous monitoring.
3. Introduction of hand held PoS machine along with QR code for generation of bills.
4. MRP on food boxes – No MRP, the license get cancelled
5. Awareness Campaign No Bill- The food is for FREE.
6. Monitoring and supervision of catering service through Operation of centralized Catering Service Monitoring Cell (CSMC) toll free number 1800-111-321, Operation of All India Helpline No. 138, Twitter handle, CPGRAMS, E-Mail and SMS based complaints redressal.
7. However, it is continuous endeavour of Indian Railways to monitor catering services and take stringent punitive action for deficiency in services including overcharging.