Railways Plans RailMadad Overhaul to Fix Complaint Routing Gaps

Indian Railways is preparing a series of changes to its RailMadad grievance portal aimed at making passenger complaints easier to categorise, route and resolve. The proposals were discussed at a September 7 video conference chaired by the Railway Board with zonal railway officials and the Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS).

Launched in 2019, RailMadad is the railways' integrated platform for passengers to register complaints, seek help and make enquiries. Officials at the meeting flagged several recurring problems in the way grievances are currently handled and suggested fixes.

Water complaints and wrong categories

Southern Railway noted that watering-related complaints are often tagged to a train's primary depot or to the division where watering is taking place, instead of the previous watering point. The Railway Board said CRIS could build a mechanism to lodge such complaints against the previous watering point so the responsible station can be identified.

Eastern Railway raised a related concern: divisional control offices sometimes reclassify a "Water Availability" complaint as "Coach Maintenance". Such changes can stretch resolution times and obscure the actual deficiency, the minutes noted. Zonal railways have been told to monitor the process and keep complaints in the prescribed category unless a change is genuinely needed.

Vande Bharat food complaints

On Vande Bharat trains, passengers sometimes file complaints about food leftovers in seating areas against zonal railways rather than IRCTC. Officials said this can leave complaints about IRCTC-run services unattended or unclosed by the right officials. CRIS, IRCTC and the Railway Board's concerned directorate will examine the issue and frame a system to route such complaints to the appropriate agency.

Housekeeping and OTP feedback

Complaints from trains without On Board Housekeeping Services (OBHS) are at times assigned to the division that handles the passenger's complaint, making the division providing immediate help accountable even when the deficiency lies elsewhere. CRIS has been asked to design a system that assigns the complaint to the responsible division while ensuring timely assistance.

The existing OTP or link-based feedback system also came in for scrutiny. Officials said passengers may not receive the link or may hesitate to share the OTP after their complaint is resolved, delaying formal closure. CRIS will explore alternative feedback methods and ways to close complaints when OTP-based feedback does not arrive.

Linen staff, rescheduled trains and repeat complaints

RailMadad already shares contact details of OBHS staff and service providers, but similar information is missing for linen distribution staff and departmental Coach Mitra employees. The Board has asked CRIS to modify the app so these details can be pulled from the existing CMM portal, helping passengers and officials reach the right staff while a train is running.

For rescheduled trains, officials pointed out that grievances can be filed before the train has actually departed from its originating station. CRIS has been advised to build a mechanism to block such complaints until departure.

Zonal railways also flagged passengers filing multiple similar complaints within a short span using the same device or PNR number. CRIS has been asked to develop logic to restrict such repeats, in coordination with the Board's passenger grievance directorate.

Station vs train, and a new dashboard

Another problem is the incorrect selection of the "Station" category when the issue concerns a running train, which can send complaints to station authorities and skew statistics for both stations and trains. CRIS may add a provision letting authorised users reclassify wrongly registered complaints.

The meeting also reviewed a new CRIS dashboard for monitoring complaints across areas. Zonal railways have been asked to study it and suggest additional features.