Dear all, In today's World, risk is an integrated part of our lives. Growing risk demands us to be more conscious in every walk of our life regardless of disability or any other weakness. So cutting the introduction short, I would like to recount my experience in detail in order to make you all realize the depth of seriousness of fraudulent behaviour and alert you from possible dangers which we all may face.
One of my friend requested me to confirm his railway ticket for his schedule journey from Mumbai to Jalgaon on 27th March, 2013 through VIP quota as he was planning to visit Mumbai just for appearing his SBI exams on 28th April, 2013. On Saturday morning around 11 AM, I checked PNR status of the ticket which was WL 103. I went to the office of Divisional Railway Manager at Mumbai CST to complete all the formalities. Suddenly, a man met me on platform number 5 and offered his help taking me at CCM building on platform number 1 where I was suppose to go for the said formalities. Further, he inquired all the needful information from my end and informed me that due to railway election, these officials have been transferred in some other building and now, mere administrative department is functioning in this building, so he took me in another building at reservation office and asked me to wait for a while. During this conversation, He also provided his professional as well as personal details. He was a railway staff and His real sister also happened to be a visually impaired and got married to a banker, so this guy pretended as if he could completely empathize challenges of visually impaired persons. He took initiative himself to solve my problem and started dialing some numbers from his mobile phone to convince railway staff for my waitlisted ticket. After 30 minutes of telephonic conversations with his different colleagues around 12:15, he informed me that the PNR status is wl48 and due to the last day of railway election, VIP quota has been completely reserved so it’s very difficult to confirm the ticket. Finally, he painted the picture that I have no option but to cancel this ticket and book a fresh one in staff quota with his so called benevolent assistance. After sometime, with my accord He confirmed my friend’s ticket in Coach No. S2 and Seat No. 48 in staff quota by mere calling to someone. I got suspicious and inquired, how he can book a reserved ticket with concessional fare (Ticket was of Rs.70) without my friend’s concession certificate? He replied that I am a railway staff, so provided my ID number to the manager and there is no need of his concessional certificate as we also have his disability certificate issued by the government authority. Then he guided me at down stairs and asked me to wait once again till another fellow handover the confirmed ticket for rs.195/-. He also explained, emergency booking was the cause for increased cost of ticket. Finally, another fellow appeared and they parted from me for around 1 minute or so. Then they both approached me and handed over the ticket. It was a fresh printed ticket. I gave him Rs. 200/- as a payment. He said that he did not have change of Rs. 5/-. I left the matter and collected the ticket with the feeling of gratitude towards that person. In the evening, I thought that I should inform the PNR number to my friend, so I gave the ticket to my father and ask him to read out the detail for my verification. When he read all the details, I found that I have been cheated completely; Because, the ticket was someone else “Cancelled ticket” of 25th April, 2013. I got shocked, not because I los my money, but because I got cheated so easily. I know taking sighted assistant is unavoidable in visually challenged person's life, but this worth learning experience triggered me to pen down all this matter and initiate healthy discussion in order to share other's suggestions, views and experiences, so we all can be more equipped with upcoming difficulties. At last, most importantly, thanks to our own Access India family member and a friend, Ms. Siddhi Desai for her great contribution in editting the story and present the same in a beautiful manner. I will also thank to my friend Mr. Rohiet Patil who encouraged and provided me all needful support to bring this issue on this list. Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of mobile phones / Tabs on: http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ To unsubscribe send a message to [email protected] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in
