Vande Bharat train TTE accused of bullying, demanded ₹3,500 for a ₹1,500 ticket and abused passenger in front of family

Nagpur (The Uttam Hindu): A hotel businessman from Nagpur and his family faced an unpleasant experience while travelling on the premium Vande Bharat Express. The passenger, Manohar Khushalani, alleged that a Travelling Ticket Examiner (TTE) tried to illegally overcharge him for tickets and used abusive language when he protested.

According to Khushalani, the family made a sudden plan on Saturday afternoon to visit Baba Mahakal in Ujjain. They reached Nagpur railway station to board the Vande Bharat Express scheduled to depart around 3:15 pm. Since online booking was not done and time had passed, the ticket counter staff informed them that tickets were unavailable but suggested speaking to the TTE onboard.

Khushalani claimed that the TTE demanded ₹10,000 for four seats, asking ₹2,500 per ticket instead of the actual fare of around ₹1,500. The TTE allegedly assured them that confirmed tickets and seats would be arranged inside the train. The family initially agreed.

However, during the journey, several seats appeared vacant and the TTE did not return for a long time. Khushalani then checked seat availability through a mobile app and found four confirmed seats available from Multai to Ujjain. He immediately booked valid tickets online.

Later, the TTE allegedly returned and demanded ₹3,500 per seat. When informed about the confirmed tickets, the TTE reportedly became aggressive, accused the family of travelling without tickets, threatened them with a fine, and abused them in front of other passengers. Khushalani also alleged that the TTE forced them to stand near the toilet area and behaved more aggressively when they tried to seek help over the phone.

Khushalani termed the incident serious, stating that despite vacant seats in a premium train like Vande Bharat, passengers were allegedly harassed for money. He claimed that for a journey which should have cost around ₹6,000, he ended up paying ₹18,692. He has demanded a thorough investigation by senior railway officials and strict action against those responsible.