Info law helps man get refund for delayed courier

[karira]

As reported by Viju B of TNN in timesofindia.indiatimes.com on 15 November 2008:
Info law helps man get refund for delayed courier-Mumbai-Cities-The Times of India


Info law helps man get refund for delayed courier

MUMBAI: What if an important document couriered to you through the postal service reached you after a days delay? You would have either cursed the system or may not even have noticed it as most courier parcels hardly reach their destinations on time.

But Dadar resident Milind S Mulay decided not to take it lying down. Mulay used the Right to Information (RTI) Act to get a refund when two articles he had sent through speed post reached their destination after a days delay. He had sent two couriers to Thane and Kalyan from the Shivaji Park post office at Dadar.

"I had sought some information from the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) and from the Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) under the RTI Act. But when I realised that the couriers had reached late, I decided to check what went wrong,'' Mulay said.

He first did some leg-work and found out from the website of the Indian Postal Service about the rules and regulations in case of delay. "I found that the website also had an option by which one can track the path of the courier. But the website had not updated the path of my courier. So, I went to the post offices' west division headquarters and asked them to give a copy of the delivery slip,'' he said.

The receipts showed that the parcels were not delivered on time. Mulay then wrote a letter to the post office asking for compensation for the delay. "The officials at the post office did not bother to answer my letter and I filed an RTI query,'' he said.

He sought information on the progress report of his complaint and what action has been taken on it. "I asked why there has been a delay in providing me the compensation as per the rulebook,'' he said.

The senior superintendent of the Mumbai city west division responded within 10 days and refunded the entire amount__Rs 50__for the delay. He also said this was in accordance with the money-back guarantee scheme. The delay occurred due to a service fault and a detailed report has been sought from the respective section, Mulay said.

Mulay said he was prompted to file an RTI query as numerous people in the country faced this problem. "More than the financial part, I wanted to show that the RTI Act can be put to everyday use and cut the red tape in the government,'' he said.

Though Mulay was happy with the positive impact of the RTI Act, he would have been happier if the official had added a line of apology to the RTI response. But maybe that is asking for too much, he said.

[rajub]

This article reminded me the discussion on "not getting AD slips back".

In that discussion somebody said that the concerned staff of postal department laughed at him showing AD slips thrown in dustbin.

I guess the AD slips thrown to dustbin at concerned post office for CIC. That is why nobody receives AD slip back from CIC.

I suggest we should ask for compensation from postal department for non receipt of AD slips. Even 2-3 such claims would settle the issue

[colnrkurup]

I am anxious to know following: Hope someone will help.

1. What is money back guarantee scheme mentioned there
2. Has he got only actual amount he has paid or anything more to compensate the additional expenditure he has incurred in probing the issue with further complaints etc.
3.Is any time schedule laid down in delivery of speed post

[karira]

From : Welcome to the Indiapost Web Site

Speed Post, the market leader in the domestic express industry, was started by Department of Posts in August 1986 for providing time-bound and express delivery of letters’ documents and parcels across the nation and around the world.

Speed Post offers money-back guarantee, under which Speed Post fee will be refunded if the consignment is not delivered within the published delivery norms.

Norms as per Sec 4 disclosure of the Postal Department:

Welcome to the Indiapost Web Site

Maharashtra Postal Circle Speed Post delivery norms are available here:

Welcome to Maharashtrapost.org : An Official Website of India Post - Maharashtra and Goa

I suppose each postal circle will have its own norms.

Online complaints can be registered at:

Web Based Customer Grievance Handling System - Complaints Entry

[sandeepbaheti]

This is one area where I feel Consumer Protection Act is a more effective tool than RTI Act. If we take the RTI route we can only get compensation under the Postal Rules which I guess is reimbursement of postal charges and 50% of the value of the article. If negligence in service is proved in Consumer Forum, the postal department will be ordered to compensate all loss incurred by the customer, including damages for mental sufferings, if any.