The
National Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission (NCDRC), India’s top consumer
court, has reversed orders by lower foras that had awarded damages in lieu of a
registered post that was lost in transit by India Post.
Presiding
member Justice JM Malik set aside the orders of district and Chhatisgarh state
consumer commission after holding that India Post cannot be seen as a provider
of commercial postal services, but as an arm of the government. As the
government cannot be hauled to consumer courts, so the postal department cannot
be made to pay for misplacing registered posts, he ruled.
“Services
rendered by the Post Office are merely statutory and there is no contractual
liability,” NCDRC said quoting an earlier order of the commission.
Malik went
on to point out that while courier companies can be sought damages from if they
lose packages and letters, the same rule is not applicable for India Post as it
was not a ‘commercial entity’.
“Establishing
the Post Offices and running the postal service the Central Government performs
a governmental function and the Government does not engage in commercial
transaction with the sender of the article through post,” the order noted.
Malik also
said that the postal charges cannot be seen as a charge under a commercial
contract, but only as “charges posed by the State for the enjoyment of the
facilities provided by the Postal Department.”
The case
was filed by Amitabh Srivastava, an advocate from Korba in Chhattisgarh, after
India Post lost a registered notice he had sent to the Manager, Bajaj Allianz
Life Insurance, Pune.
Both the
district forum as well as the Chhattisgarh State Commission awarded Rs 6000 as
damages and costs to Srivastava and ruled against India Post. However, the
NCDRC reversed the orders and canceled the damages that were awarded.
0 comments:
Post a Comment