Compliant Book:
Complaints and suggestions:
To enable the passengers and other railway users to record their complaints regarding inconvenience caused to them, as also their suggestions for the improvement in the working of the railway, a ‘complaint, and suggestion book’ should be maintained at each station in the Assistant Station Master’s Office, where public can have easy access. Similarly, a complaint and suggestion book should also be maintained
- in each catering and vending establishment including Dining Restaurant Buffet cars, stalls and trolleys whether running departmentally or through contractors
- in each good shed and parcels office situated at a distance from the main station building
- with each Guard and Conductor of all trains carrying passengers excluding suburban trains.
Notice boards indicating the places where the complaint and suggestion books are available should be displayed at suitable places at all stations.The pages of the complaint and suggestion books are serially machine numbered in sets of three foils each marked ‘original’, ‘duplicate’ and ‘triplicate” respectively, to be written by carbon process. These books will be supplied by the Divisional Office, after endorsing the date of the issue over the signature of a gazetted officer and the Divisional Office stamp on the inside of the top cover of the book. The complaint and suggestion books which are not so endorsed should not be used at stations or other places.
The complaint and suggestion book should be chained to a wall, table or any other article so it could not be removed from the place where it is required to be maintained. In the case of complaint and suggestion books maintained by Guards and Conductors, or those used for mobile catering units (excluding the Dining Buffet Restaurant cars), where chaining is not conveniently possible, the chaining may be dispensed with but it should be ensured that the book is readily available at such places at all times.
Staff should not enter into any argument with anyone asking or the complaint and suggestion book even though they have reasons to feel that there is no valid cause of complaint, they should make available the book immediately on demand or direct the complaint to the place where the book would be available. It should be remembered that non-production of the book, immediately on demand, will constitute a separate offense in itself.
The original copy of the complaint suggestion will be retained in the book itself as the record the duplicate copy will be submitted to the Divisional Office within the prescribed time of its recording and the triplicate copy will be given to the complainant for his record. The full explanation of the staff responsible for the complaint, together with the remarks thereon by the Station Master/Unit Manager on duty, should be attached to the duplicate copy of the complaint before it is transmitted to the Divisional Office.
If, after recording a complaint, the complainant withdraws the same, he should be requested to record his withdrawal on all the three copies of the complaint about his full signature. In such cases, despite the fact that the complaint was subsequently withdrawn, the duplicate copy of the complaint along with the explanation of the staff concerned, as also the observations thereon of the Station Master Unit Manager on duty, should be submitted to the Divisional Office.
As far as possible, the Station Master Unit Manager on duty should redress the grievance of the complainant on the spot, and the action taken in this direction should be indicated in his report submitted to the Divisional Office along with the duplicate copy of the complaint.
When a complaint or a suggestion has been finally disposed of, the Divisional Office will advise the Station Master Unit Manager through a letter, a reference of which should be entered by the Station Master Unit Manager on the record copy of the relevant complaint
With a view to ensuring that the duplicate copies of the complaints and suggestions are correctly submitted to the Divisional Office within the prescribed time limit, the Station Master Unit Manager should examine daily the complaint and suggestion books in his charge. The complaint and suggestion books of the Guards and Conductors will be examined by the Station Master of the station at which the Conductor or Guard concerned is headquartered.