Price of cup of tea on Shatabdi Express will leave you in splits; Here’s what Internet is talking about

New Delhi: If you think that the price of food and beverage Indian Railways on has lessened, then you might be wrong. A passenger was surprised after he was charged Rs 70 for a cup of tea during his train journey.

While travelling, a passenger bought tea on the train for which he had to pay a service tax of Rs 50. The original price of the cup of tea was Rs 20. Thus, in total it amounted to Rs 70. The person took to Twitter and shared the picture of the bill. Soon, the picture went viral online.

Passenger pays Rs 70 for a cup of tea

The passenger was travelling on the Bhopal Shatabdi train running between Delhi and Bhopal on June 28. Taking to Twitter, he shared a photo of the bill, which showed Rs 70 for a cup of tea (original price of the tea – Rs 20; tax – Rs 70). Captioning the picture, he wrote, “GST of Rs 50 on tea worth Rs 20. Altogether, a tea is worth Rs 70. Isn’t it an amazing loot?”

The passenger stated that he made a series of complaints to IRCTC, which provides catering services on the railways. However, no actions were taken against it.

₹20 का चाई पर ₹50 का GST. कुल मिलाकर ₹70 का एक चाई,
हैं ना कमाल का लूट
Series of such complaints to ⁦⁦@IRCTCofficial⁩ fall on deaf ears at ⁦@RailMinIndia⁩
and the private players have a loot in “connivance” with the 🤫 pic.twitter.com/Ayir5vGITL

— Deepak Kumar Jha (@journalistjha) June 30, 2022

People were shocked to see such a high price of a cup of tea. One of the social media users commented that it is not GST but a service charge.

See some of the reactions here:

EMU aur passenger trains ko express ki category mein chala rahe hain aur 10 ka ticket 30 ka ho gaya hai. Most Express trains mein general ke lite bhi reservation ho raha hai.

Loot issy kehte hain https://t.co/1ZLJNnvBK5

— Ishan Bhatkoti (@Ishan_bhatkoti) June 30, 2022

GST is a % of sales value. I guess what we see here is service charge not GST. It does not go to government.

High service charge is a claim by service provider that it’s giving awesome service. I am surprised IRCTC does not have a cap on Service Charge in % form. https://t.co/k7OtKH3SMw

— Prabhat Kumar (@KrPrabh) June 30, 2022

@IRCTCofficial Can we get an explanation? https://t.co/r13VtUA9bG

— RoN (@ronnelect1) June 30, 2022

Railway is charging more service charge than Making cost of tea…. This is terrible @ShivajiIRTS @IRCTCofficial @RailMinIndia Atleast Railway should review its policy… https://t.co/VZDe0TsFZi

— Aditya Bidwai (@AdityaBidwai) June 30, 2022

.@AshwiniVaishnaw sir, for Rs 20 tea, Rs 50 service charge?

Amazing Shatabdi Express!#IRCTC https://t.co/MdcGkytu7i

— RAHUL TANDON (@tandonrahul24) June 30, 2022

That is not GST, that’s an service charge is voluntary https://t.co/oLfnBGIgiO

— Adv. & Er. Rajesh Shah🚩🇮🇳🇮🇳🚩 (@drishti16966) June 30, 2022

Indian Railways explains the reason

However, India Today reported that as per railway officials, no extra money was charged from the passenger. The officials have given a reason for the same.

In 2018, a circular was issued by Indian Railways which stated that if a passenger does not book a meal while making a reservation in trains like Rajdhani or Shatabdi, then a service charge of Rs 50 has to be paid for ordering tea, coffee, and food items.

Earlier food services were served mandatorily on Rajdhani and Shatabdi, however, in 2017, it was made optional.

Notably, during the booking of a ticket through IRCTC, a passenger can now choose catering facilities during the train journey.