Coffee and tea in train to be costly: Railway board

New Delhi, Sep 20: The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has increased the rates of coffee and tea available in the trains from Rs 7 to Rs 10. IRCTC issued the order after reviewing the tariff and menu of meals on board.

A circular passed by the Railway board states that, "Tariff of tea and coffee is revised and is fixed at Rs 10 per cup. However, standard tea (not dip tea) at Rs 5 will be available." The board has asked to change the licence fee accordingly and adjust the price as per requirement. IRCTC caters to about 350 trains that have pantry cars. There will be no change in prices in Rajdhani and Shatabdi as the food package in these trains are prepaid.

Railway minister Piyush Goyal has emphasised on vendors overcharging for food served on trains and said the food will be free if passengers don't get the bill. To check overcharging, catering staff were asked to use POS (point of sale) machines for accounting.

Caterers suggested to the board that all food items should be priced in multiples of five to help the passengers and reduce instances of overcharging. The ministry issued a rate card after being flooded with complaints by passengers over being overcharged for meals, water bottles and tea and coffee on trains. The ministry posted the rate list on Twitter and asked people to lodge a complaint if they are overcharged.