India: Postal dept liable to pay for late delivery
The postal department is liable to compensate a consumer for not delivering a consignment within the stipulated time as assured under it Speed Post service, the Delhi Consumer Commission has held.
Rejecting the department’s plea that the Indian Post Office Act gives it immunity from paying compensation for any delay in delivering articles, the Commission, presided over by Justice J D Kapoor, said it was liable for any “deficiency in service or negligence”.
“The immunity under the law of any office or of any government authority has nothing to do with the concept of compensation to a consumer due to the negligence of the opposite party (post offices) in not maintaining the standard of service,” Justice Kapoor said.
Allowing the appeal of complainant Yatendra Sharma, the Commission observed in a recent order that the department could be saddled with liability for non-delivery of postal articles within the stipulated time under its special Speed Post scheme.
“Whenever any consumer avails service like Speed Post or courier and if there is any shortcoming or inadequacy in the manner of performance, the service provider can be held guilty for deficiency in service,” it said.
The Commission’s ruling came in response to an appeal by Sharma, a resident of Sahibabad in Uttar Pradesh, who sought compensation for the delay in delivering a consignment, sent through Speed Post to Singapore in 2002.
A consumer forum had quashed his complaint on the ground that the postal department was immune under a statute from paying any compensation on this ground.
