The next time your
mail arrives late, don't fume, just do what Mumbaikar Prakash Sheth did.
Based on his
complaint, a consumer forum recently pulled up the postal department for
failing to deliver his parcel on time and directed it to pay Sheth Rs 4,000 as
compensation.
The South Mumbai district consumer disputes redressal forum
directed the postal department to not only refund the cost of postal charge (Rs
267), it has also ordered it to pay Sheth Rs 3,000 for mental agony caused and
another Rs 1,000 for litigation costs.
According to his
complaint, Sheth sent three articles by speed post to three different locations
in New Delhi New Delhi
On September 13,
2010, Sheth had addressed a letter to the postal department requesting them to
refund the postal charges. However, the department on October 19, 2010,
rejected his request, claiming that there was no delay from its end, and that
the delay was caused because Sheth had failed to mention the correct pin-code
on the parcel.
Sheth however
claimed that the pin-code was wrongly mentioned by an employee of the postal
department who had accepted the parcel.
He finally
approached the forum and filed a complaint. After going through the complaint,
the forum asked the department to file its reply, in which it stuck to its
stand.
After going through
the evidence, the forum held the postal department guilty of failing to provide
the services promised to its consumers, and penalised it for the same.