Indian Railways on Monday directed the IRCTC to cancel all the existing contracts for mobile catering, according to the existing terms and conditions, the provision of providing ready meals in the base kitchen to the passengers.
New Delhi. The Railway Ministry has issued a major directive to the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) on Monday. The ministry has asked the company to cancel all such contracts for mobile catering. IRCTC has been instructed by the Indian Railways to cancel all existing contracts for mobile catering (currently suspended), which have provisions to provide ready meals to passengers in the base kitchen as per the existing terms and conditions. Indian Railways has taken this step after the issue related to it in Madras High Court, where the railway was asked to find a solution within four weeks.
The situation arises due to corona The Railway Ministry said that it should be treated as an exception due to conditions arising due to Corona virus and it should not be seen as a fault of the contractor. The Railway Ministry ordered the termination of all contracts, stating that no food should be fined in the event of no food being served to the food contractor and the security deposit and full advance fees, if any, paid back on account of the appropriate arrears. Please do it.
A petition was filed by the Indian Railway Mobile Caterers Association (ICRMCA) in the Madras High Court on 19 January 2021 regarding the issue of mobile catering. In its order on that petition, the Madras High Court had asked the Indian Railways to consider the IRMCA’s demands for service reinstatement.
ICRMCA services are closed due to lockdown.
IRMCA services have been discontinued since the lockdown announced in March 2020. The court had asked the officials to give full opportunity to the members of the organization to keep their words and issue orders within four weeks. The Railway Ministry says that it listened to the views of the organization and also looked at the documents and conditions related to the tender.
Let us tell you that mobile catering facility was introduced in trains in 2014, in which passengers could order food online from their favorite brand and passengers had their ordered food delivered on their berth.
