NEW DELHI, Mar 26: The Railways has terminated the contract of a catering vendor and slapped a ₹50 lakh fine on the company after a passenger found live worms and insects in packaged curd served on the Patna–Tatanagar Vande Bharat Express. The Railway Ministry has also imposed a ₹10 lakh penalty on its own catering arm, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), for inadequate handling of the incident.
The incident occurred on March 15 when a group of seven passengers on the Vande Bharat train were served packaged curd along with dinner. One of them, Ritesh Singh, discovered worms and insects upon opening the packet and posted a video on X, tagging IRCTC, the Railway Minister, and others. According to IRCTC’s incident report, the curd packet had been picked up from Patna, with a manufacturing date of March 9, 2026, and an expiry date of April 7, 2026. The officials apologised, offered dry fruits and sweets, and asked the passengers to verify the matter on the spot, but the complaint was not withdrawn and the video went viral.
Initially, IRCTC fined the vendor, Krishna Enterprises, ₹25,000 and warned it for lapses in food handling, directing it to maintain a proper cold chain and follow food safety protocols. However, the Railway Ministry found the action too lenient and ordered IRCTC to terminate the contract and raise the fine to ₹50 lakh. The ministry also imposed the ₹10 lakh fine on IRCTC itself, saying the lapses in onboard service quality were serious and must not recur.
In an internal order, the ministry directed all IRCTC supervisors to treat food quality, safety, and hygiene as top priorities and to strictly monitor catering services. The Ministry also posted on X, confirming that the complaint about the food quality on train number 21896 (Patna–Tatanagar Vande Bharat Express) has been taken seriously, restating that IRCTC has been fined ₹10 lakh, the vendor fined ₹50 lakh and its contract terminated, and reaffirming that passenger safety and service quality remain the railways’ top priority.
