Shipping agency sends consignment to wrong address

Chennai: The district consumer dispute redressal forum, Chennai (north), has directed a shipping agency to pay a compensation of Rs 2 lakh to a person for its failure to deliver goods booked by him to his daughter-in-law residing in Canada within the stipulated time. The forum also directed the agency HI-Line Shipping Services Pvt Ltd to refund excess freight charges of Rs 41,395 paid by her.

Staff at HI-Line Shipping Services wrote the destination as US, instead of Canada, in the shipping bills and invoices.The petitioner, T.K. Baskara Rao, a resident of Shenoy Nagar, Chennai, submitted that his daughter-in-law, Dr Jothi Deena Dayalu Naidu, was pursuing higher studies in Halifax, Canada. He wanted to send study books and other items to her through a shipping agency. Rao booked a consignment consisting of two wooden boxes, one containing 35 study books and another containing a table-top wet grinder, clothes, toilet items and 15 study books for her higher studies.

On February 3, 2012, he paid Rs15,500 to the agency for sending the materials to her. A month later, the staff picked up the boxes from his house assuring that the goods would be delivered to the consignee within 45 days. However, it did not reach her even after 45 days.

Rao and Jothi made repeated requests to the agency to locate the consignment. They found that the agency had made a major mistake in the address. The consignment was wrongly delivered at Toronto, Canada. Jothi had to spend an excess amount of Rs 41,395 towards freight, demurrage and other charges to collect the consignment.