Loud mobile phone use in local trains to attract fines of up to ₹5,000

The nuisance of commuters playing music and watching videos at a high volume on their mobile phones during train journeys will soon prove costly. Central Railway (CR) and Western Railway (WR) are set to penalise those who disturb fellow commuters thus, with proposed penalties ranging from ₹1,000 to ₹5,000 and imprisonment of six months. This will be carried out under Section 145 of the Indian Railways Act which pertains to “causing nuisance”.

On Monday, the railway authorities directed staffers to begin apprehending commuters listening to mobile phone content loudly and without earphones. Railway officials said they would implement the decision in local trains and later in long-distance trains. “We will first issue a warning. If the commuter/s still persist, they will be fined for causing nuisance,” said a WR official.

With mobile internet becoming increasingly accessible, watching videos, listening to music and consuming other audio content without headphones has become common inside public transport. The BEST undertaking has already put up stickers inside its buses to discourage commuters from doing this. “The problem is particularly in crowded trains during peak hours. This gets annoying and at times also leads to arguments,” said Nandkumar Deshmukh, president of the Federation of Suburban Rail Passengers Association.