Railways Act, 1989
138. Levy of excess charge and fare for traveling without
proper pass or ticket or beyond authorized distance.
(1) If any passenger,-
(a) being in or having alighted from a train,
fails or refuses to present for examination or to deliver up his pass or ticket
immediately on a demand being made therefor under section 54, or
(b) travels in a train in contravention of the
provisions of section 55, he shall be liable to pay, on the demand of any
railway servant authorized in this behalf, the excess charge mentioned in
sub-section (3) in addition to the ordinary single fare for the distance which
he has traveled or, where there is any doubt as to the station from which he
started, the ordinary single fare from the station from which the train
originally started, or, if the tickets of passengers traveling in the train
have been examined since the original starting of the train, the ordinary
single fare from the place where the tickets were so examined or in the case of
their having been examined more than once, were last examined.
(2) If any passenger,-
(a) travels or attempts to travel in or on a
carriage, or by a train, of a higher class than that for which he has obtained
a pass or purchased a ticket ; or
(b) travels in or on a carriage beyond the
place authorized by his pass or ticket, he shall be liable to pay, on the
demand of any railway servant authorized in this behalf, any difference between
the fare paid by him and the fare payable in respect of the journey he has made
and the excess charge referred to in sub-section (3).
(3) The excess charge shall be a sum equal to the amount payable
under sub-section (1) or sub-section (2), as the case may be, or fifty rupees,
whichever is more :
Provided that if the passenger has with him a
certificate granted under sub-section (2) of section 55, no excess charge shall
be payable.
(4) If any passenger liable to pay the excess charge and the
fare mentioned in sub-section (1), or the excess charge and any difference of
fare mentioned in sub-section (2), fails or refuses to pay the same on a demand
being made there for under one or other of these sub-sections, as the case may
be, any railway servant authorized by the railway administration in this behalf
may apply to any Metropolitan Magistrate or a Judicial Magistrate of the first
or second class, as the case may be, for the recovery of the sum payable as if
it were a fine, and the Magistrate if satisfied that the sum is payable shall
order it to be so recovered, and may order that the person liable for the
payment shall in default of payment suffer imprisonment of either description
for a term which may extend to one month but not less than ten days.
(5) Any sum recovered under sub-section (4) shall, as and when
it is recovered, be paid to the railway administration.