Trusting India’s widest postal services — India posts — had given some tense moments to a grandmother-grandson duo. And with India Posts itself failing to give a delivery confirmation regarding fixed deposit cheques sent through it, the duo was left with no other option but doubt the authenticity of the services.
Nevertheless, after a two-year-long wait, the duo got a confirmation from the department that the fixed deposits cheques sent by them were delivered to the intended persons. However, this comes after a complaint was lodged with the consumer forum.
A compensation of Rs 3,000 was directed to be paid to the grandmother-grandson duo by the postal department. On April 6, 2016, M Aravind accompanied his grandmother M Vijaya Lakshmi to the RK Puram post office as she had to send a fixed deposit cheque through registered post to a real estate firm in Gurgaon.
Aravind also kept a track whether the post had reached its destination. However, three weeks on, there was no mention on the India Posts website regarding the delivery of the post. Perplexed, Aravind lodged a complaint with the regional head office of the department on April 30, 2016. However, he didn’t receive a reasonable response. On May 15, 2016, Aravind lodged a complaint with the same post office from where he had sent the post. But, the evasive attitude of the officials continued.
As a final attempt, he once again raised a complaint on August 4, 2016, and finally, a reply came from the department that “the post was delivered.” But this time around, the proof of delivery was not given, the complainants recalled.
Meanwhile, Department of Posts, a sub-branch of India Posts, maintained that the post was delivered in six days time from the time it was posted i.e. on April 12. And, an acknowledgement stating the delivery report was also duly sent. They also argued that the delivery, non-delivery, or misplace of posts is exempted under Section 6 of the Indian Post Office Act, 1898, and requested the complaint to be dismissed.
However, Ranga Reddy district consumer forum held that the provision cannot be taken into consideration. “Non-furnishing of proof of delivery in online tracking can be viewed as a willful act for default on part of the Postal department for which they are answerable to the public for causing a deficiency in service, anxiety and mental agony,” forum stated.
A compensation of Rs 3,000 has been directed to be paid to the complaints by the postal department. #KhabarLive
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Faraaz Mohammed