Watch your coin and calories while eating at station stalls in Mumbai

Stalls might soon have to display this information if the railways agree to the FDA's suggestion. file pic

Soon, food stalls at railway stations across the city may have to display their full menu, with prices and all. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposed this after receiving several complaints from passengers about being overcharged for food at these stalls.

In Mumbai, lakhs of people travel by the local train on a daily basis, and many of them have busy schedules and rely on the food stalls on station platforms. Many a time, though, commuters are over charged by a few rupees for the snacks. Every month, the FDA receives 20 such complaints on average. Despite running several inspections, the owners of food stalls, who work on contract basis, still violate the rules. So, taking this into consideration, the food watchdog finally proposed in a meeting last week to make displaying prices mandatory. The FDA might even ask the food stalls to display calorific value with each food item.

"In Mumbai, thousands of passengers travel all the way from other districts and states, and are generally not aware of the prices. The stall staff take advantage of this and overcharge them. We have done several investigations by sending our officials undercover. We have also sent several notices and warnings to the owners but, despite this, they keep overcharging," said a senior officer from FDA.

If the proposal gets the final green light from higher authorities, it will also need a nod from the railway department before being implemented. "As these are the premises of the railways, it has to be done in association with them," the officer added.

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