Small print troubles customers
Private courier users face mental agony for deficiency in services.
By : nalla ram
Update: 2016-01-05 02:13 GMT
Visakhapatnam: Failing to read the “small print”, many people who have been using courier companies to send cheques, DDs, important project reports etc. are facing mental agony for deficiency in service. The minutely printed “terms and conditions” on a consignment bill have saved major private courier companies in many cases. The companies easily escape court cases by paying only Rs 100 to the complainants.
In a fresh example, Vizag-based businessman, 31-year-old Mr Sandip Gupta, had filed a case against First Flight Couriers Ltd at District Consumer Forum-II in December 19, 2012 for delay in the delivery of a registration form and a DD of Rs 1 lakh that led to him losing the opportunity to participate in an e-auction for business worth Rs 10 lakh. The consignment was misplaced during transit from Vizag to Hyderabad.
However, the consumer forum recently ordered the company to pay Rs 100 as compensation and Rs 1,500 as legal expenditure citing that the courier company’s liability, printed on its receipt, clearly stated that in case of loss, the company would not pay more than Rs 100. Senior advocate and president of Forum of Legal Professionals, Mr Kuppili Muralidhar said that the hands of the court were tied because the law restricted the compensation for loss of article sent by courier to only '100. This amount will have to be revised by amending the Carriers Act-1865, he said.
“The amount can’t be specified in the Act because there are certain items listed in the schedule, which must not be sent through courier, for example gold and other jewellery and contraband products. “There’s also no compensation for mental agony provided under the Consumer Protection Act 1986, which should have been provided for. Consumers have to be informed well in advance about the provision that in case of loss only Rs 100 is offered by the courts, which is seldom done by courier for reasons apparent,” he added.
Cheaper rates draw many towards private couriers:
Though India Posts has been offering, SpeedPost, which is often faster than many private courier services, many people opt for courier services because they are a little cheaper. A senior postal officer said that delivery by SpeedPost ranged from one to nine days with 99 per cent chances of the mails reaching the addressee. Private courier services turned out to be less reliable and the time taken ranged from one to 10 days in almost all major cities.
India Post charges uniform rates for all destinations but the rates with private couriers vary and this makes them popular in the cities. In semi-urban and rural areas, the postal department is ahead of courier services, he added. Courier services collect even single mails from the doorstep on a phone call and provide an acknowledgement to the sender and for little less than postal rates, said Ms B. Kavita, who prefers courier to postal.
Courier services deliver letters quickly but are not always reliable. The postal department is being competitive, said N.S. Rao, who prefers the postal department for sending covers.
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