CST saw commuters, joined by MNS activists, protesting the new policy where men and women will be officially charged Rs 2 for using the railway toilet for urinating, and Rs 15 for using it for defecating and taking a bath. It is only since August 1 that the new policy has come into effect, that too at CST, Karjat and Panvel railway stations only.

However, commuters, men in particular, claimed that for the past six to seven months before the new policy came into effect, they were officially being charged only Rs 1 for urinating, Rs 2 for defecating, and Rs 5 for bathing. The protesters, along with MNS activist Arvind Garvade, met CR general manager Akhil Agarwal to voice their concerns. “We met Mr Agarwal in the afternoon and asked him to take this policy back. They have said that they will look into it and soon take a call,” said Mr Garvade.

The group not only met Mr Agarwal but also marched into the railway toilet, later scratching out the new rates that have been put up opposite platform number 7 since August 1. “They took this decision on their own and did not think of taking anyone’s opinion before executing it,” said Mr Garvade.

It is learnt that the CR will arrive at the final decision after taking up the matter with the Railway Board in Delhi.

Incidentally, as per the Railway Act, there were no charges applicable for urinating, while using the water closet was chargeable at Rs 2 and bathing at Rs 5, until recently. However, women were for long being officially charged Rs 2 even for using the toilet for urinating. “Technically, we should not have been taking Rs 2 from women either but since there was no way of knowing whether they had gone only to urinate or also to defecate, the trend of taking Rs 2 from them started,” said a railway official on condition of anonymity.