Petitioners were unable to exhibit art due to delayed service
Picture for representational purpose
Chennai: The state consumer disputes redressal commission, Chennai, has directed an international courier agency and a leading courier firm to pay a compensation of Rs5 lakh to two persons for delaying a shipment of paintings to New Orleans, Lousiana, USA. Due to the inordinate delay, they were unable to exhibit and sell the paintings at an international convention.
In the petition, Ramachar Murali and Padmini Rao, Chennai, submitted that they had planned to participate in the Rotary International Convention from May 21 to 25, 2011, at New Orleans, Louisiana, to exhibit and sell oil paintings. Murali reserved a stall at the convention for USD 6,000 (Rs 3 lakh). They booked five boxes containing 85 oil paintings on May 12 with TNT India Private Ltd, St Thomas Mount, which proposed to send them through DTDC courier to the convention centre at New Orleans.
The shipment did not reach in time even though the firms had sufficient time for sending them. The consignment was not even loaded on to the plane till May 15. After repeated requests and reminders, the paintings were delivered at the last minute at 11 am on May 25 at his hotel room in New Orleans. Hence, they were unable to exhibit and sell the paintings.
On receiving a legal notice, the firms sent an apology letter and assured to return the freight charges. Murali and Padmini sought '30 lakh as compensation from them for the expenditure incurred towards travel, accommodation, booking stall at the convention and for suffering mental agony and deficiency in service.
Despite sending notices, the firms failed to appear before the commission.
The bench, comprising president R. Regupathi, judicial member A.K. Annamalai and member P. Bakiyavathi, said the firms admitted to the delay in delivery of paintings by tendering an apology. The bench directed the courier agency and DTDC couriers to pay compensation of '5 lakh to the petitioners in six weeks.
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