Courier agency to pay Rs 61K for delay in delivery of books

A consumer forum has directed a courier agency here to pay Rs 61,000 to a book firm, saying the agency committed "deficiency in service" by not delivering the parcel within a reasonable time.
The North-East Delhi District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, presided by N K Goel, directed DTDC Couriers to pay Rs 61,000 to Syndicate Books while noting that the parcel took more than a year to travel from Delhi to Surat.
"It means that parcel took more than one year to travel from Delhi to Surat through a courier agency which is supposed to give fast and quick service to its customers. Even if the parcel had been sent through cycle rickshaw, we are sure that it would have reached from Delhi to its destination at Surat within not more than 75/90 days," the bench, also comprising members Asha Kumar and Nishat Ahmad Alvi, said.

The forum also noted that due to courier agency's act, the book firm had to go to their Ahmedabad office twice and had to undergo "great mental torture and agony".
According to the book firm, it had booked a parcel of engineering books worth Rs 1,32,553 (weighing 18 kg) with the courier agency on May 22, 2010, which was to be sent to Surat (Gujarat).
When the parcel did not reach the destination, the book firm enquired about the same upon which it was told by courier agency that parcel was wrongly sent to Ahmedabad, then to Rajkot and then to Madras.

The consignment was finally delivered to the accurate address on May 31, 2011.
Meanwhile, the complainant filed a claim of compensation with the agency but it rejected the claim on ground that neither the value nor the contents of the consignment were declared at the time of booking of the consignment nor the consignment was insured.
Thereafter, the book firm filed the complaint before the consumer forum seeking direction to the courier firm to pay an amount of Rs 1.9 lakh.