Ministry of Railways press release · 19 March 2026 · pibtracker filter

QR Code-Enabled Identity Cards and Digitally Traceable Food Packets in Indian Railways to Eliminate Unauthorised Vending and Ensure Verified Onboard Catering Services for Rail Passengers

PRID2242392 MinistryMinistry of Railways Released19 March 2026 Reading10 min

Modern Base Kitchens, Mandatory FSSAI Certification, CCTV Monitoring, Surprise Inspections and Third-Party Audits are Delivering Hygienic and High-Quality Meals to Passengers Posted On: 19 MAR 2026 1:37PM by PIB Delhi Unauthorized hawking and vending in the passenger area on Indian Railways is prohibited. It is an offence punishable under Section - 144 of Railways Act, 1989. Regular inspections are conducted by designated officials and RPF to check and prevent entry of unauthorised vendors in trains. Special drives are also conducted by Railways and IRCTC officials to curb unauthorised vending in railway premises from time to time. To establish identity of the authorised vendors in trains, issuance of QR code enabled Identity Cards in the name of individual vendors/helpers/staff deployed for managing onboard catering services has been made mandatory. This QR code is linked to establish authenticity of the staff by displaying the Vendor’s name, Aadhaar No., Medical Fitness, Police verification details, etc. Other measures taken to curb unauthorised vending include QR code on food packets which displays name of kitchen and date of manufacturing etc. The following measures have been taken to improve quality, hygiene, and food safety: ● Supply of meals from designated Base Kitchens. ● Commissioning of modern Base Kitchens at identified locations. ● Installation of CCTV Cameras in Base Kitchens for better monitoring of food preparation. ● Shortlisting and use of popular and branded raw materials, like cooking oil, atta, rice, pulses, masala items, paneer, dairy products etc. for food production. ● Deployment of Food Safety Supervisors at Base Kitchens to monitor food safety and hygienic practices. ● Deployment of on-board IRCTC supervisors on trains. ● Regular deep cleaning and periodical pest control in Base Kitchens and Pantry Cars. ● In order to ensure compliance with Food Safety Norms, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) certification from designated Food Safety Officers of each catering unit has been made mandatory. ● Regular food sampling as a part of the inspection and monitoring mechanism to ensure quality of food on trains. ● Third Party Audit is done to examine hygiene and quality of food in Pantry Cars and Base Kitchens. Customer satisfaction survey is also conducted. ● Surprise inspections by Food Safety Officers. ● Regular training is conducted by IRCTC to enhance the skills of catering staff, focusing on customer service areas i.e., communication, courteous behaviour, service standards, personal grooming, and hygiene. This information was provided by the Union Minister for Railways, Information & Broadcasting and Electronics & Information Technology, Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw, in a reply to a question in Lok Sabha on Wednesday. ***** Dharmendra Tewari/ Dr. Nayan Solanki/ Manik Sharma (Release ID: 2242392) Visitor Counter : 1275 Read this release in: Urdu , हिन्दी , Gujarati , Kannada Ministry of Railways QR Code-Enabled Identity Cards and Digitally Traceable Food Packets in Indian Railways to Eliminate Unauthorised Vending and Ensure Verified Onboard Catering Services for Rail Passengers Modern Base Kitchens, Mandatory FSSAI Certification, CCTV Monitoring, Surprise Inspections and Third-Party Audits are Delivering Hygienic and High-Quality Meals to Passengers Posted On: 19 MAR 2026 1:37PM by PIB Delhi Unauthorized hawking and vending in the passenger area on Indian Railways is prohibited. It is an offence punishable under Section - 144 of Railways Act, 1989. Regular inspections are conducted by designated officials and RPF to check and prevent entry of unauthorised vendors in trains. Special drives are also conducted by Railways and IRCTC officials to curb unauthorised vending in railway premises from time to time. To establish identity of the authorised vendors in trains, issuance of QR code enabled Identity Cards in the name of individual vendors/helpers/staff deployed for managing onboard catering services has been made mandatory. This QR code is linked to establish authenticity of the staff by displaying the Vendor’s name, Aadhaar No., Medical Fitness, Police verification details, etc. Other measures taken to curb unauthorised vending include QR code on food packets which displays name of kitchen and date of manufacturing etc. The following measures have been taken to improve quality, hygiene, and food safety: ● Supply of meals from designated Base Kitchens. ● Commissioning of modern Base Kitchens at identified locations. ● Installation of CCTV Cameras in Base Kitchens for better monitoring of food preparation. ● Shortlisting and use of popular and branded raw materials, like cooking oil, atta, rice, pulses, masala items, paneer, dairy products etc. for food production. ● Deployment of Food Safety Supervisors at Base Kitchens to monitor food safety and hygienic practices. ● Deployment of on-board IRCTC supervisors on trains. ● Regular deep cleaning and periodical pest control in Base Kitchens and Pantry Cars. ● In order to ensure compliance with Food Safety Norms, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) certification from designated Food Safety Officers of each catering unit has been made mandatory. ● Regular food sampling as a part of the inspection and monitoring mechanism to ensure quality of food on trains. ● Third Party Audit is done to examine hygiene and quality of food in Pantry Cars and Base Kitchens. Customer satisfaction survey is also conducted. ● Surprise inspections by Food Safety Officers. ● Regular training is conducted by IRCTC to enhance the skills of catering staff, focusing on customer service areas i.e., communication, courteous behaviour, service standards, personal grooming, and hygiene. This information was provided by the Union Minister for Railways, Information & Broadcasting and Electronics & Information Technology, Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw, in a reply to a question in Lok Sabha on Wednesday. ***** Dharmendra Tewari/ Dr. Nayan Solanki/ Manik Sharma (Release ID: 2242392) Modern Base Kitchens, Mandatory FSSAI Certification, CCTV Monitoring, Surprise Inspections and Third-Party Audits are Delivering Hygienic and High-Quality Meals to Passengers " /> Unauthorized hawking and vending in the passenger area on Indian Railways is prohibited. It is an offence punishable under Section - 144 of Railways Act, 1989. Regular inspections are conducted by designated officials and RPF to check and prevent entry of unauthorised vendors in trains. Special drives are also conducted by Railways and IRCTC officials to curb unauthorised vending in railway premises from time to time.  To establish identity of the authorised vendors in trains, issuance of QR code enabled Identity Cards in the name of individual vendors/helpers/staff deployed for managing onboard catering services has been made mandatory. This QR code is linked to establish authenticity of the staff by displaying the Vendor’s name, Aadhaar No., Medical Fitness, Police verification details, etc. Other measures taken to curb unauthorised vending include QR code on food packets which displays name of kitchen and date of manufacturing etc. The following measures have been taken to improve quality, hygiene, and food safety: ●   Supply of meals from designated Base Kitchens. ●   Commissioning of modern Base Kitchens at identified locations. ●  Installation of CCTV Cameras in Base Kitchens for better monitoring  of food preparation. ●  Shortlisting and use of popular and branded raw materials, like  cooking oil, atta, rice, pulses, masala items, paneer, dairy products etc. for food production. ●   Deployment of Food Safety Supervisors at Base Kitchens to monitor food safety and hygienic practices. ●  Deployment of on-board IRCTC supervisors on trains. ●  Regular deep cleaning and periodical pest control in Base Kitchens and Pantry Cars. ● In order to ensure compliance with Food Safety Norms, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) certification from  designated Food Safety Officers of each catering unit has been made mandatory. ●   Regular food sampling as a part of the inspection and monitoring mechanism to ensure quality of food on trains. ●  Third Party Audit is done to examine hygiene and quality of food in Pantry Cars and Base Kitchens. Customer satisfaction survey is also conducted. ●  Surprise inspections by Food Safety Officers. ● Regular training is conducted by IRCTC to enhance the skills of catering staff, focusing on customer service areas i.e., communication, courteous behaviour, service standards, personal grooming, and hygiene. This information was provided by the Union Minister for Railways, Information & Broadcasting and Electronics & Information Technology, Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw, in a reply to a question in Lok Sabha on Wednesday.  ***** Dharmendra Tewari/ Dr. Nayan Solanki/ Manik Sharma " /> var mPlayer = document.getElementById("background_music"); var mPlayAction = document.getElementById("playbutton"); var isPlaying = false; function playAudio() { mPlayer.play(); isPlaying = true; document.getElementById('stopA').style.display = "block"; document.getElementById('playA').style.display = "none"; } function pauseAudio() { mPlayer.pause(); isPlaying = false; document.getElementById('playA').style.display = "block"; document.getElementById('stopA').style.display = "none"; } //function HandleAudio() { // if (isPlaying == true) { // //Playing already Pause it // pauseAudio(); // } else { // //Play the music // playAudio(); // } //} var synth = window.speechSynthesis; function CleanHtml(html) { html = html.replace(/ /gi, ''); return html; } function stripHtml(html) { let tmp = document.createElement("DIV"); tmp.innerHTML = CleanHtml(html); return tmp.textContent || tmp.innerText || ""; } $(document).ready(function () { //for responsive tables $("table").each(function () { if (!$(this).closest(".table-responsive").length) { $(this).wrap(" "); } }); var width = $(window).width(); if (width $(document).ready(function () { var width = $(window).width(); if (width @media print { .sticky-social, .sticky-social_mb, .pull-right, #printPDF { display: none !important; } } .f_vl { padding-right: 30px; font-size: 17px; cursor: pointer; } .log_oo { // width: 20%; display: flex; justify-content: space-between; } .log_oo img { width: 150px; /*width: 100%; height: auto;*/ } .sticky-social_mb { position: fixed; bottom: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; width: 100%; } .social_mb { list-style: none; display: flex; width: 100%; margin-bottom: -8px; } .social_mb a { padding: 8px 0px; font-size: 30px; transition: all 0.8s ease-in-out; width: 20% !important; text-align: center; } .section1 { position: relative; padding: 10px 0px; width: 100%; } .sticky-social { position: fixed; top: 20px; left: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; } .social { list-style: none; } .social a li { padding: 8px 12px; font-size: 25px; transition: all 0.8s ease-in-out; } .social a li:hover { margin-right: -30px; box-shadow: 2px 5px 10px grey; } .social a li:hover .fa { margin-left: 20px; } .fb_b { /* background-color: rgb(59, 89, 152);*/ background-color: rgba(65,103,178,255); } .twitter_r { /* background-color: rgb(29, 161, 242);*/ background-color: #000000; } .whatsapp_r { /* background-color: rgb(77, 194, 71);*/ background-color: rgba(13,191,67,255); } .fa-envelope_r { /* background-color: rgb(219, 68, 55);*/ background-color: #e2123d; } .fa-linkedin_r { background-color: rgb(0, 119, 181); } @media only screen and (max-device-width: 767px) { p span img { max-width: 90% !important; height: auto !important; } p img { max-width: 90% !important; height: auto !important; } h2 { font-size: 20px !important; font-weight: 600 !important; } h3 { font-size: 18px !important; font-weight: 600 !important; } } /* === Film Roll Badge Styling(IFFI2025 countdown) === */ .film-roll-badge { position: absolute; top:82%; right: 20px; width: 230px; height: 70px; background: repeating-linear-gradient( to right, #9a2375 0px, #9a2375 18px, #6e2b8b 18px, #6e2b8b 36px ); border-top: 8px solid #9a2375; border-bottom: 8px solid #9a2375; border-radius: 8px; overflow: hidden; box-shadow: 0 4px 12px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.4); animation: moveFilm 8s linear infinite; z-index: 10; } /* film sprocket holes */ .film-roll-badge::before, .film-roll-badge::after { content: ""; position: absolute; width: 100%; height: 10px; background: repeating-linear-gradient( to right, #9a2375 0px, #9a2375 10px, #fff 10px, #fff 20px ); left: 0; z-index: 2; } .film-roll-badge::before { top: -4px; } .film-roll-badge::after { bottom: -4px; } .film-roll-inner { position: relative; height: 100%; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center; animation: flicker 2s infinite ease-in-out; } .countdown-text { font-size: 1.3rem; font-weight: 700; color: #fff; text-shadow: 0 0 6px rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.4), 0 0 10px #000; white-space: nowrap; } /* === Animations === */ @keyframes moveFilm { 0% { background-position: 0 0; } 100% { background-position: 120px 0; } } @keyframes flicker { 0%, 100% { opacity: 1; } 50% { opacity: 0.9; } 25% { opacity: 0.95; } 75% { opacity: 0.85; } } /* === Responsive Adjustments === */ @media (max-width: 1500px) { .film-roll-badge { top: 68%; right: 18px; /* width: 220px; */ height: 65px; font-size: 0.85rem; } .press-section { margin-top: 35px; } } @media (max-width: 992px) { .film-roll-badge { top: 52%; right: 10px; width: 200px; height: 60px; } } @media (max-width: 768px) { .film-roll-badge { top: 56%; right: 10px; width: 124px; height: 55px; } .countdown-text { font-size: 0.9rem; } } @media (max-width: 576px) { .film-roll-badge { top: 59%; right: 5px; /* width: 160px; */ height: 50px; } .countdown-text { font-size: 0.85rem; } } const festivalStart = new Date("2025-11-20T00:00:00").getTime(); const festivalEnd = new Date("2025-11-28T23:59:59").getTime(); const countdownElement = document.getElementById("countdown"); const interval = setInterval(() => { const now = new Date().getTime(); // BEFORE FESTIVAL — show days + hours left if (now = festivalStart && now el.style.width = "350px"); clearInterval(interval); } }, 1000); //

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QR Code-Enabled Identity Cards and Digitally Traceable Food Packets in Indian Railways to Eliminate Unauthorised Vending and Ensure Verified Onboard Catering Services for Rail Passengers

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