Amidst the continuing tussle between RailYatri and Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) associated with unauthorized price ticket reserving, the Indian railway catering arm has locked horns with RailYatri and TravelKhana over online food ordering services.
Citing unknown sources, a Business Standard file said that IRCTC has approached decrease courts in Karkarduma and Rohini alleging that the net food ordering offerings furnished with the aid of these groups are unlawful.
This revelation comes after it was said that RailYatri had applied for IRCTC license to hold its teach ticket booking services. On April 05, the Delhi High Court had ruled that RailYatri’s train price ticket booking service is unauthorised.
In 2017, IRCTC had filed a grievance alleging that the employer turned into offering illegal bookings and meals on trains. IRCTC accused the company of violating the rules as the startup isn’t always registered with IRCTC as a primary provider company (PSP) or a retail carrier provider (RSP) SP.
The Delhi High Court recounted that railyatri.In became neither a PSP nor an RSP and has no privity of settlement with IRCTC.
Following this, IRCTC now appears to impeach each RailYatri and Delhi-based TravelKhana for imparting unlawful food offerings. According to the IRCTC framework, no company can offer food to educate visitors until they’re appointed as an aggregator via IRCTC.
“The count number related to meals services is presently sub-judice for the ultimate 18-20 months and therefore it will be irrelevant to remark particularly in this. We clarified our dedication to paintings within the IRCTC framework and we’ve got already improved in that course. RailYatri is a law-abiding organisation and is dedicated to the improvement of recent era to improve inter-metropolis tour enjoy in India. All our current and past activities are in the framework of e-commerce recommendations defined via the ministry of trade,” Swapnil Tripathi, CBO at Railyatri told Inc42.
Apart from RailYatri, foodtech startup TravelKhana is likewise underneath the scrutiny. The case comes at a time when the startup is already facing trouble in its enterprise over angel tax-associated concerns.
In February, it was mentioned that TravelKhana is going through an existential threat owing to an angel tax order. On February 5, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) had no longer best seized all of the startup’s cash — amounting to INR 33 Lakh — however also frozen its financial institution debts.
At that point, at the same time as talking with Inc42, Siddarth Pai, founding companion of 3One4 Capital who is a member of the operating committee to resolve angel tax issue said that the angel tax crackdown has left TravelKhana with out a cash.
The issue associated with food shipping comes at a time while speculations are rife that IRCTC is making plans to sign up for hands with food transport businesses which include UberEats, Zomato, Foodpanda, and Swiggy to offer meals in trains.
Meanwhile, in keeping with reviews, the railway agency has partnered with on-line food shipping groups TRAPIGO and Shree Mahalakshmi Swayam Sahayata Bachat Ghat (Ratnagiri) nearby or nearby cuisines to train passengers. The users can vicinity the orders thru IRCTC’s e-catering website.
The pilot is now live in Nagpur and set to extend in different towns within the North-Central belt consisting of New Delhi, Itarsi, Jhansi, and Bhopal.
