Food Vending Machines: Indian Railway
Indian Railway decides to implement new technology for the comfort and convenience of its passengers. The new idea is Food Vending Machines. Railway decided to install that in stations and trains too. The following are the details regarding that.
Food Vending Machine in Trains Soon
Indian Railway decided to introduce Food Vending Machines in Trains to resolve issues and complaints related to food quality, pricing, and delivery.
It is planning to install vending machines that will dispense ready-to-eat food to its customers on a 24/7 base. The service is likely to start with the debut of Utkrisht Double-Decker AC Yatri (Uday), a famous Newspaper reported.
Uday Express is likely to attract business travelers and will run on busy routes such as Delhi-Lucknow. The express service will run overnight to cater to the travelers who would start in the night and reach in the morning to save on their hotel expenses. The vending machine will help customers choose products of their choice at a maximum retail price. It will have two payment options- cash and card.
According to officials, the vending machine will be installed in every third coach of a train. Besides ready-to-eat food, the machine will also dispense some other eatables. It will give a brief description of the meal selected along with its price on the screen. The machine will dispense both vegetarian and non-vegetarian food.
Vending Machines for Snacks by IRCTC
Indian Railway is looking to install Automatic Food Vending Machines at all suburban stations in Mumbai for providing snacks and Soft Drinks to the passengers. IRCTC is looking at installing these machines at B and D grade stations in Mumbai to offer convenience and more hygienic food to the passengers, a newspaper reported. More than 75 lakh commuters in the city would soon get hygienic food at suburban railway stations. AVM would be set up at Railway Stations for selling snacks and soft drinks. One has to simply insert coins and notes or swipe debit or credit cards to buy the food items.
The cost of each AVM could be up to Rs.5/- lakhs. Under the New Catering Policy 2017 Railway has decided to install AVM’s dispensing food items at Railway Stations. IRCTC along with Western and Central Railways has started working out plans for the installation of AVMs at the railway station in Mumbai. According to the source, IRCTC is planning to install the machines on A1 and A grade railway stations while CR and WR are working out a plan for the B and D grade stations. The New Catering Policy states that the AVMs can be a good replacement for the food stalls at the platforms and concourse. The AVMs will dispense packaged items such as chips, biscuits, bottled soft drinks and juices, and even tea and coffee. AVMs would allow people to easily buy food items without having to go to a shop. If maintained well, railway sources said the AVMs could replace food stalls at stations. This will free up space at platforms, the official said.
AVMs in New Catering Policy 2017
In New Catering Policy the Railway mentioned the AVMs.
- Zonal Railway shall manage through licensee the automatic self vending machines. AVMs shall be permitted only in the form of stand-alone self-dispensing units. They shall not be permitted to sell any other items except those to be dispensed through these machines. The operations of the AVMs shall not involve any manual interface except for the purpose of refiling/repair/maintenance of the machine. However, all dispensation related operations shall be through coin/currency/card only.
- The AVMs that are not stand-alone self-dispensing units should be closed down forthwith taking into account the provisions of the contract. Other existing AVMs would be allowed to continue only until the currency of the existing contract and no extension should be given.
- New AVMs, adhering to current norms, shall be awarded through a two-packet tender system. Allotment will be done by the e-tendering method. Till the finalization of the e-tendering module and issuance of procedure order by the Railway Board normal tendering process shall be followed.
- The allotment of new AVMs should be done by following SBD guidelines for major units issued by Railway Board on 05/07.09.2012.