The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has banned 15 e-catering websites operating across India, including in Mumbai, for allegedly misleading passengers by posing as authorised partners and offering food delivery services on long-distance trains.
According to railway officials, IRCTC had received hundreds of complaints from passengers regarding these portals. In the Western Railway zone alone, around 300 to 400 complaints were registered concerning issues such as non-delivery of food orders, poor-quality meals, refund disputes and lack of customer support.
IRCTC has initiated legal and criminal proceedings against 15 websites, including railrestro.com, railmitra.com, comesum.com, travelkhana.com, trainscafe.com and railmeal.com. Legal notices were issued in February this year, followed by criminal complaints filed in March and April.
Railway authorities said several unauthorised websites collect sensitive passenger information, including PNR numbers, mobile phone numbers, email addresses and payment details. Such practices expose travellers to risks including online fraud, phishing attacks and misuse of personal data.
Officials expressed concern that as train food delivery services become increasingly popular, websites falsely claiming links with IRCTC could easily deceive unsuspecting passengers.
As of April, IRCTC’s e-catering service was available at more than 400 railway stations across the country and handled an average of over 155,000 meal bookings every day. The service operates through a network of more than 6,200 vendors and food aggregators.
The platform offers meals from several well-known food brands, including Behrouz Biryani, McDonald's, Bikanervala, Biryani Blues, Biryani By Kilo, Domino's Pizza, Faasos, Firangi Bake, Haldiram's, KFC, La Pino'z Pizza, LunchBox, Oven Story, Pizza Hut and Sweet Truth.
IRCTC has advised passengers to order food only through its official channels, including the e-catering website, the ‘Food on Track’ mobile application, the 1323 helpline, or other authorised partner platforms.
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