Preparations for the Mumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections are in the final stages. On the instructions of the Election Commission, Mumbai Police has banned mobile phones at polling stations and the use of mobile phones is prohibited within a radius of 100 meters. The code of conduct will be applied at polling stations. There will be a complete ban on the use of mobile phones and wireless within 100 meters. In addition, advertising campaigns and advertising of election symbols are also prohibited. Candidates cannot attract voters at polling stations. If anyone is found involved in this process, action will be taken against them. This order has been issued by Mumbai DCP Operation Akbar Pathan on the instructions of Mumbai Police Commissioner Devin Bharti.

New Delhi, Jan 8: The Delhi High Court on Thursday stayed a single-judge direction that required the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to institute a second level of human review for consumer complaints dismissed by its banking ombudsman.

A division bench of Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia passed the interim order on an appeal filed by the RBI against a ruling delivered by Justice Prathiba M. Singh, which required such reviews to be conducted by legally trained professionals, including retired judicial officers or lawyers with a minimum of ten years’ experience.

While staying the impugned directions, the CJ Upadhyaya-led Bench observed that, prima facie, it found force in the submissions advanced on behalf of the RBI.

“Accordingly, we provide that the directions contained in paragraph 47(5) and 48 of the impugned judgment by the learned single judge dated November 27, 2025, shall remain stayed,” it ordered.

The bench also stayed the single-judge’s direction requiring the RBI Deputy Governor to submit a compliance affidavit by January 15, 2026. The matter has now been scheduled for further hearing on March 17.

Appearing for the RBI, Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta submitted that the single judge had travelled beyond the permissible scope of judicial review under Article 226 of the Constitution.

The Centre’s second-highest law officer submitted that the Reserve Bank-Integrated Ombudsman Scheme, 2021, is a statutory scheme framed under Section 35A of the Banking Regulation Act and Section 18 of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, and can be altered or modified only by authorities empowered under those enactments.

In her November 27, 2025, ruling, Justice Prathiba M. Singh had expressed concern over complaints being rejected through “system-generated responses” and held that the Ombudsman Scheme must be “an effective Scheme and not a mere toothless division of the RBI”.

The judgment was delivered in a writ petition filed by advocate Sarwar Raza, who had approached the Delhi High Court alleging harassment and wrongful rejection of his complaints by the RBI Ombudsman following a disputed credit card transaction of Rs 76,777.

The single-judge Bench had directed the RBI to ensure that customer complaints are not rejected merely through a mechanised process and that complainants should be given an opportunity to correct minor errors.

It had further ordered that whenever complaints are finally rejected, they must undergo a second level of human supervision by legally trained personnel, observing: “If the complaint redressal mechanism adopted by the Ombudsman is made more effective and efficient, litigation in courts and consumer forum/s can be reduced considerably.”

Thane: The local trains on the Trans-Harbour line are running 15 to 20 minutes late. Due to this, there was a rush of passengers at important railway stations including Thane, Digha, and Airoli during the peak morning hours. Also, passengers suffered a lot when the train leaving Thane railway station for Vashi at 8.56 am was suddenly cancelled. Many could not reach their workplaces on time.

National and international companies have offices and factories in Navi Mumbai. Therefore, lakhs of employees from Thane to Karjat, Kasara, Mulund, Bhandup areas travel to Navi Mumbai via the Trans-Harbour route from Thane railway station. Also, the number of passengers coming to Thane city from Navi Mumbai is high. Due to this, there is a huge rush of passengers at Thane railway station in the morning.

Since Thursday morning, trains on this route have been running 15 to 20 minutes late. Due to this, the entire railway timetable has collapsed and there is a rush of passengers at the main stations. In the morning, a large number of employees travel to Navi Mumbai from Thane station. However, the train leaving Thane station for Vashi at 8.56 am every day was suddenly canceled. This created confusion among the passengers. Even after that, all the trains are running 15 to 20 minutes late.

Due to this, there was a huge rush of passengers at many important railway stations including Thane, Digha, Airoli. Due to the disruption of railway services during the morning rush hour, passengers suffered a lot. Many could not reach their workplaces on time, while some had to wait for hours to travel. Many passengers expressed displeasure over the sloppy functioning of the railway administration. One angry passenger reacted that due to such a breakdown in the morning, our planning collapsed. The railway administration should take this seriously.

Passenger reaction: The timetable of railway trains on this route has collapsed since last night. The train which leaves Vashi for Thane daily at 8:50 PM had not arrived even after 9 PM last night, said a passenger who travels from Thane to Vashi for work.