The Indian Railways received over 7,000 complaints related to quality of food served on trains since 2014, the government informed Parliament on Friday.

Minister of State for Railways Rajen Gohain in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha said 7,862 such complaints were received between January 2014 and June 30, 2017. However, 310 complaints were unsubstantiated.

He said fines amounting to ₹2.33 crore were imposed on contractors during the period. Five contractors have lost their catering rights on select trains.

These include the caterer who served food on the Poorva Express in which a dead lizard was found recently. The Ministry also issued 2,909 warnings to caterers over bad quality of food, the Minister said.

Catering issues

In a written reply to a question related to catering issues, Gohain had on Wednesday in the Lok Sabha said 27,782 complaints relating to catering services were received by the railways between January 2014 and June 30, 2017.

Giving details, he had said 648 complaints were related to hygiene issues, 9,983 were about over-charging, 937 about quantity of meals and 735 about misbehaviour by catering staff.

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