Members of the ticket-checking squads conduct regular checks on board trains and on platforms to detect various malpractices.
| Photo Credit: LAKSHMI NARAYANAN E.
The Salem Railway Division of the Southern Railway has collected ₹21.71 crore in penalty through ticket checking drives from January to November this year
Members of the ticket-checking squads of the Salem Division conduct regular checks on board trains and on railway premises to detect various malpractices. During these checks, they identify cases of persons travelling without tickets, irregular travel, unbooked luggage, etc. and levy penalties accordingly.
This year, over the past 11 months, the ticket checking squads detected 1,56,247 cases of ticketless travel and collected a total amount of ₹13.56 crore as penalty from the offenders, which is an increase by 7.3% in the penalty collected compared with the corresponding period last year. During January-November, 2024, the division had collected ₹12.63 crore as penalty.
Moreover, 1,41,271 cases of irregular travel were also recorded in the last 11 months and ₹8.10 crore was collected as penalty, , marking an increase of 10.8% in the amount collected as against last year (₹7.31 crore).
From January to November, 850 cases of unbooked/carrying luggage exceeding the permitted quantity were detected. The total amount collected as penalty for these cases was ₹4.65 lakh. This is an increase of 30.9% in the amount collected as compared with the same period last year (₹3.55 lakh).
The squads detected these irregularities/offences during the 57,169 checks conducted during the last 11 months and 2,98,368 cases were booked.
The Railway officials said that during November 2025 alone, a total of ₹1.47 crore in penalty was collected by the squads, including ₹1.11 crore for ticketless travel, ₹34.96 lakh for irregular travel and ₹35,914 for unbooked/carrying luggage exceeding the permitted quantity, the officials added.
Published – December 08, 2025 07:16 pm IST
