Postal Dept. penalised for wrong delivery of article

Postal dept shows up at wrong office, to pay

For delivering a letter at the wrong address despite its bearing the correct address, the Department of Posts, Chandigarh division, has been directed to cough up Rs 10,000 as compensation along with Rs 2,000 as costs by state consumer commission. The amount will be paid to Sector 8-resident Bharti Bedi who, hoping against hope, moved an appeal after the consumer forum had failed to side with her. Imposing a heavy fine with the intention to curb the ‘tendency of negligence’ among officials while handling consumers’ articles, the commission, said, “It is clear from records that the department was negligent in delivering the letter. Negligent employees should not get shelter under Section 6 (of the Indian Post Office Act which was cited by consumer forum in favour of the department), rather the department should keep a watch on such employees who must be more careful while performing their duties.”

According to the complaint, Bedi had applied to be registered with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), New Delhi, and sent a form with a draft of Rs 3,500 in June 22, 2006, through Speed Post. Though the last date of submission was June 30, 2006, Bedi did not receive any confirmation till August 23, 2006. Eager to know the status of her application, she penned a letter to the manager, National Speed Post Centre, New Delhi, the reply to which left her shocked. She was informed that her letter was inadvertently delivered to some other office instead of ICAI, which later returned Bedi’s documents as they had reached much after the last date of submission. Seeking compensation for damages suffered, Bedi moved a complaint alleging deficiency in services for loss of “a complete academic year”.

Stating that it was just a human error due to which the letter was delivered at the wrong address, the postal department had pleaded before the commission that it couldn’t be held liable for any loss, misdelivery, delay or damage under provisions of Section 6 of the Indian Post Office Act....