Mumbai: In a notable achievement for Central Railway’s ticket-checking operations, a Travelling Ticket Examiner (TTE) from the Mumbai division has imposed penalties exceeding ₹1 crore on ticketless passengers during the financial year 2025–26.
According to a post shared by the DRM Mumbai CR, Chief Ticket Inspector (CTI) Mohammed Shums has recovered a total penalty of ₹1.03 crore from 11,483 passengers found travelling without valid tickets during routine inspections and train rounds.
The milestone reflects the intensified efforts undertaken by ticket-checking staff to curb irregular travel across the network, particularly in suburban services that form the backbone of daily commuting in Mumbai.
Central Railway’s Major Crackdown On Ticketless Travel
Between April and August 2025, the railway zone recorded penalties amounting to ₹100.50 crore after detecting 17.19 lakh cases of ticketless or irregular travel across its network.
Officials stated that ticket-checking teams across divisions have been carrying out regular and surprise inspections to discourage unauthorised travel and ensure compliance with railway rules.
“The ticket checking teams across divisions worked tirelessly to curb irregular travel by apprehending passengers travelling without valid tickets, with improper or invalid travel authority,” a railway official said.
Sharp Rise In Offences In August 2025
Data released by Central Railway also indicated a noticeable rise in ticketless travel cases from August 2024 to August 2025. In August 2025, authorities apprehended 2.76 lakh passengers travelling without valid tickets, compared to 2.34 lakh cases recorded in August 2024, an increase of around 18%.
The penalty collected during the same period rose sharply to ₹13.78 crore, marking a significant jump of more than 55% from the ₹8.85 crore collected in August last year.
Multi-Pronged Enforcement Strategy
Railway authorities said the crackdown is part of a multi-pronged strategy aimed at reducing unauthorised travel across different train services. The measures include station checks, ambush checks, fortress checks, intensive inspections and large-scale ticket-checking drives.
“These operations are carried out across all types of trains, Mail/Express, Passenger, Special and Suburban trains, particularly in the Mumbai and Pune divisions,” an official added.
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