Rajnath Singh asks Railway Ministry to let passengers file FIRs online

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday urged the Railway Ministry to introduce a facility that would allow train passengers to register First Information Reports (FIRs) online. He said disputes over jurisdiction sometimes led to harassment of ordinary people. He was addressing a national conference on railway security.

The case for online FIRs

Singh explained that at present a passenger who faces a problem on a train has to go to a Government Railway Police (GRP) station to lodge a complaint. The case is then passed on to the state, the district and finally the local police station concerned, with no assurance that the complainant will get justice.

He argued that passengers should be able to file complaints electronically and offered his ministry’s full backing. “We will provide all possible support from the Ministry of Home Affairs,” he said. He pointed to the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and System (CCTNS), implemented by his ministry to connect the work of state police forces, and said he would examine whether online complaints from railway passengers could be linked to it.

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, who attended the event, said he would consider the suggestion. Official figures cited at the time put the number of theft cases registered by rail passengers at about 24,000 a year.

Advice to the Railway Protection Force

In what was seen as a pointed remark, Singh urged personnel of the Railway Protection Force (RPF) to treat the public with sensitivity and courtesy, adding that the same was expected of every police force, central or state.

He also called for changes in how passengers’ baggage is searched at stations and on moving trains, and said the RPF needed to make its presence felt across the network. Noting that regular patrolling in trains sometimes did not happen, he asked officials to discuss how to fix this. Singh further proposed “theatre-specific” standard operating procedures to prevent untoward incidents.

See also: profiles of political leaders

Originally published on 16 January 2019. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

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