New modus operandi; Railways incurs heavy loss

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Parcel Mafia books parcel at lower rates at Chennai Central

Supervisors have turned dummy as powerful clerks and employees union office bearers control the parcel office

How they operate:

Some modus operandi of scamsters of Chennai Central station parcel office –

  • Booking parcels at lower rates.
  • Switched off the computers which run the Parcel Management System, thereby allowing manual booking of parcels.
  • Manual booking unable under-weighing and over-loading.
  • Render bar code scanners irrelevant by citing connectivity issues.

Chennai : A parcel mafia operating at Dr MGR Chennai Central station allegedly in collusion with railway employees has used Covid-19 to devise another modus operandi to strip railways of parcel earnings.

Multiple railway sources said parcels booked on trains bound for New Delhi were fraudulently booked at a rate 30% lower than that fixed, earning a small commission for the mafia and causing a loss to railway earnings.

Every train carries around 30 tonnes of parcels booked at Rs. 7.5 per kg. In July 2020, Chennai division of Southern Railway earned Rs. One crore by transporting 2,157 tonnes of parcels.

Southern Railway commercial wing say, “the scam has been happening since June 1, 2020, but came to light officially a few weeks ago following an inspection by Divisional Commercial Manager (DCM), Chennai Division, Prabhu Premkumar.”

An official spokesperson confirmed, “Premkumar’s inspection on December 12, 2020, found that parcels bound for Ranchi on Grand Trunk (GT) Express (to New Delhi) were booked on Premium scale, though they should have been booked on Rajdhani (R scale) which is 30% costlier.”

The Southern Railway spokesperson said, “A few staff were immediately transferred. A thorough probe has been ordered,”

Till May 31, railways allowed parcels to be booked at the premium scale to boost the Covid-hit economy. This was stopped on June 1, 2020 when Express trains began running.

“But the parcel mafia continued to register parcels as being booked at the premium scale. This was done by either manipulating the PMS (Parcel Management System) or by manually booking them,” told by the two different sources.

Six employees were shifted from the parcel office of the Chennai Central station after the check.

Railway sources said an input was also given to the railway vigilance wing, but no action was taken yet by the vigilance branch.

Explaining the modus operandi, a source said this would be done for parcels booked on GT Express as it is parked on platform 3, away from prying eyes.

An official in the parcel office said, “Supervisors have turned dummy as powerful clerks and employees union office bearers control the parcel office, leave alone action, no investigation is done against those employees suspected of involvement in past scams.”

#Source: TOI, Chennai Edition

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