National Consumer Disputes Redressal
Head Post Master, vs Vijay Rattan Aggarwal on 18 September, 2002
NATIONAL CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL COMMISSION NATIONAL CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL COMMISSION NEW DELHI REVISION PETITION No. 15 OF 1997 (From the order dated 7.10.96 in appeal No.709/95 of the State Commission, Haryana) Head Post Master, Post Office Railway Road Kurukshetra, Haryana & Ors. Petitioner Vs. Vijay Rattan Aggarwal Respondent REVISION PETITION No. 1006 2001 (From the order dated 22.1.2001 in Appeal No.2556/99 of the State Commission, Uttar Pradesh) Union of India & Ors. Petitioner Vs. Brahm Dev Upadhyay` Respondent A N D REVISION PETITION No. 1035 OF 2002 (From the order dated 17/1/02 First Appeal No.53/02 of the State Commission, Haryana) Varun Garg Petitioner Vs. Assistant Post Master, Post Office & Ors. Respondent BEFORE: HONBLE MR. JUSTICE D.P. WADHWA, PRESIDENT HONBLE MR. JUSTICE J.K. MEHRA, MEMBER. MR. B.K. TAIMNI, MEMBER. Speed Post - Section 6 of Indian Post Office Act, Rule 66B of India Post Office Rules, 1933 as amended - Inland Speed Post Service - Laws of domestic Speed Post - Article or loss of its contents or damage to the contents - Compensation to be double the amount of composite Speed Post charges paid or Rs.1,000/- which ever is less - Delay of domestic Speed Post article - compensation to be paid equal to the composite Speed Post charges Post Office Guide - Circulars - 66-B,72, 83 and 83-A of the Indian Post Office Rules, Regulations 81, 82, 182, 183, 184 of the Post Office Guide, Part-I and Circulars fixing the norms considered. For the petitioner in n RP 15/97 : Mr. B.K. Agarwal and Mr. Rajiv Bansal, Advocates For the petitioner in RP 1006/97 : Mr. Sunil Sharma, Advocate For the Respondent /Amicus Curiae: Mr. Vishnu Mehra, Advocate in RP 15/97 and RP 1006/97 For the petitioner in RP 1035/02 : N E M O O R D E R
DATED THE 18th September, 2002.
JUSTICE D.P. WADHWA, J.(PRESIDENT).
In these petitions were are examining the liability of the Post Office when there is delay or non-delivery of postal articles sent by Speed Post. Though the question is common it arises in different ways in these petitions.
Revision Petition No.15/1997:
Respondent-complainant Vijay Rattan Aggarwal, sent two bank drafts on 18.1.95 in the sum of Rs.5.00 lakhs by speed Post which were to delivered to the addressee within 24 ours. This was not done. And perhaps lost. Complainant perforce had to to obtain duplicate banks drafts on 7.3.1995. He claimed loss of interest apart from his alleged suffering of loss in business and the mental agony undergone by him. In spite of Section 6 of the Indian Post Office Act, 1898 (Post Office Act) District Forum allowed the complaint and awarded Rs.20,000/- as compensation to the complainant and also awarded interest @ 18% per annum on the amount of Rs.5.00 lakhs for the period from 19.1.95 to 6.3.95. A sum of Rs.250/- was also awarded as costs.
State Commission on appeal filed by the Post Office dismissed the same. State Commission was of the view that the Postal Department was also rendering service for consideration in carrying postal articles and the only question for consideration before it was whether the Department could be saddled with liability for non delivering the postal articles within the time stipulated under the special scheme i.e. Speed Post. State Commission differentiated the order of the National Commission on the interpretation of Section 6 of the Post Office Act and observed that the main argument which appeared to have weighed with the National Commission was the point that the Postal Department was performing statutory service and there was no contractual liability. State Commission said that that argument could be valid in the cae of ordinary postal transactions, but when special schemes were started by the Postal Department in the name of Speed Post and Telegraphy Money Order, then the statutory nature of the same was eliminated and the contractual liability was clearly incurred by the Postal Department when it did not fulfill the undertaking for timely delivery.
State Commission added: In such cases unless a satisfactory explanation is forthcoming for the delay or non-delivery of the letters or money-orders, the postal department has to be held guilty of negligence in performing the service contracted for and would thus be liable for compensation on account of any loss or injury caused to the person, who entrusted articles for transmission to the postal department under these schemes.
Aggrieved of the order of the State Commission, Post Office has filed this revision petition.
Revision Petition No.1006/2001:
Complainant in this case was preparing for administrative service examination of the Uttar Pradesh Government service and after having passed the preliminary examination was called for final examination. For that he sent the necessary papers by Speed Post. These papers were not received on time though it was promised that the will be delivered to the addressee within 24 hours. Result was that the complainant could not appear in the final examination. Complaining deficiency in service he approached the District Forum which awarded him Rs.10,000/- as damages and also directed refund of postal charges of Rs30/- paid for the Speed Post. Post Office went in appeal to the State Commission which affirmed the order of the District Forum. State Commission was of the view that for Speed Post definite charge was taken wherein assurance was given to the consumer that the letter would be delivered in a particular time frame. State Commission said that public utilises Speed Post service only for the purpose that letters which are being sent would be delivered within the specific time and not beyond that and if there was delay in delivering then it was the duty of the Post Office to indemnify the person who had sent Speed Post letter and suffers on that account. State Commission also found that damages of Rs.10,000/- were not on the higher side. State Commission referred to the circular No.43-4/87-BDD dated 22.1.99 and said that it did not have the force of law.
Again it is the Department which is before us.
Revision Petition No.1035/2002:
In this case it is the complainant who is aggrieved and is petitioner before us. He sent an application form for admission in LL.B. in Maharishi Dayanand University, Rohtak through Speed Post on 19.5.2000. Last date of submission of the application form was 22.5.2000, whereas the application sent by the complainant was received by the University after this date. It was, therefore, not entertained. Result was that complainant could not sit in the entrance test of LL.B. He filed a complaint before the District Forum which directed that fee of Rs.20/- paid by the complainant towards Speed Post charges be refunded to him. No other claim of the complainant was entertained. Appeal filed by the complainant was dismissed. State Commission upheld the view of the District Forum that there was no evidence on record to prove that the Postal Authorities fraudulently or willfully caused the delay in delivering of the admission form to the University and as such no liability could be fastened on the officers of the Postal Department.
This has led the complainant to file this petition.
During the course of hearing, we requested Mr. Vishnu Mehra to assist as amicus curiae.
Mr. Agarwal, learned counsel for the Post Office, has produced before us the Post Office Guide Part-I and the Indian Post Office Rules, 1933 framed by the Central Government in the exercise of powers conferred on it by the Indian Post Office Act, 1898. With these two books, we find there is also a letter No.7-7/2000-PO dated 8/14.9.2000 issued by the Department of Posts in the Ministry of Communications, Government of India where distinction between statutory Rules, the Post Office Guide and Manuals has been brought out. These are the Rules which are statutory and hold a prime place than the Guides and Manuals. In the present case we do not find there is any visible contradiction between the Regulations as contained in the Post Office Guide and the Statutory Rules aforesaid, but if there is any contradiction, Rules will prevail.. Nevertheless, we have to consider the question of deficiency in service. Consumer can well raise his claim under the Post Office Guide as various functions are performed by the Post Office on the basis of the Guide. It is promised deficiency in service that matters.
By amendment to the Statutory Rules in 1986, Rule 66B was introduced w.e.f. 1.8.1986 which relates to Speed Post and reads as under:
66-B. INLAND SPEED POST SERVICE Inland Postal articles may be booked after obtaining receipts therefore, at the places specified in column (1) of the Schedule below and at the post offices specified in the corresponding entries in column (2) of the said Schedule for delivery under the Inland Speed Post Service subject to the following conditions namely:
(1) Inland Speed Post Service shall be available in respect of all classes of mails which can be sent by registered service;
(2) an inland speed post fee of Rs.10/- per article for distance upto 500 km. And of Rs.20 per article, weighing upto 5 kg. with an additional fee of Rs.5 for every additional kg. or part thereof, for distance beyond 500 kms. in addition to the postage and registration fee and air surcharge, wherever applicable shall be prepaid by the sender in the same manner as is prescribed in the case of registered and parcel mail articles;
(3) articles for booking under this service shall prominently bear on the front the superscription INLAND SPEED POST and shall also bear the name and address of the sender in addition to that of the addresses, including the PIN Codes, of the Post Offices of delivery serving the addressee and the sender and their telephone numbers, if any;
(4) complaints regarding any article booked under this service( including a demand for refund of fees in cases of non-delivery of articles within the stipulated time) may be preferred within three months from the date of booking of the article and shall inter alia contain the number of the article, the date of booking and the name of the office of booking;
(5) there will be no delivery of these articles on Sundays and other holidays in the post offices concerned.
Explanation: For the purpose of this rule Inland Speed Post Service means the service which seeks to deliver postal articles within stipulated time, specified in respect of each city or town, as the case may be from time to time,by a special messenger or conveyance.
SCHEDULE ..
These Statutory Rules were further amended by notification No.GSR 40(E) dated 21.1.1999 which inserted the following conditions after condition No. (5) of Rule 66B:
- In case of any delay of domestic speed post articles beyond the norms determined by the Department of Post from time to time, the compensation to be provided shall be equal to the composite speed post charge paid.
- In the event of loss of domestic speed post article or loss of its contents or damage to the contents, compensation shall be double the amount of composite speed post charges paid or Rs.1,000 whichever is less.
In respect of the norms determined by the Department of Posts our attention has been drawn to circular No.43-4/87-BDD dated 22.1.1999 issued by General Manager (BD) and addressed to all Chief Post Masters Genera, relevant portion of which we quote:
a) In the event of delay of domestic Speed Post articles beyond the prescribed delivery norms published from time to time as a part of money back guarantee, the speed post charges paid by the customer will be refunded subject to the condition that:
(i) Delay due to curfew, bandhs and strike etc. will not count as delay in delivery and such days of interruption will be excluded from the total days taken in delivery of articles.
(ii) The article booked beyond cut off time will be counted as booked on the next day and will be marked as Booked after cut off time
b) In the event of loss of Speed Post article, loss of contents or damage to the contents, the compensation payable to the customer will be -
double the speed post charges or Rs.1000/- whichever is less.
The loss of article or loss or damages to its contents will first be established on receipt of confirmation to this effect from office of delivery/destination and responsibility fixed and amounts of compensation recovered from the official/s at fault.
But settlement of claim will not be linked with recovery from the official. The sanction order will be issued straightway on receipt of confirmation in respect of loss or damage to contents of the article from delivery end..
It may also be noticed that Condition No.(2) of Rule 66B which fixes fee for speed post fee has been amended from time to time but that is not relevant for our purposes. Under Rule 44 gold coin or gold ornaments or articles of gold or both of value exceeding Rs.10,000/- shall not be transmitted by post. There are certain other prohibitions again with which we are not concerned. Part IV of the Rules provides for Insurance of Postal Articles. Rules 72, 83, and 83A are relevant for our purpose which we quote:
72. (i) Registered letters, value payable registered letters, registered parcels and value payable registered parcels may be insured up to the value of Rs.600/- at such branch post offices, and up to the value of Rs.1,00,000/- at such other post offices, as may be authorised by the Postmaster General to accept articles for insurance and for such post offices as may be authorised by the Postmaster General to deliver insured articles:
Note: Where currency notes are despatched by insured post the value shall not exceed Rs.20,000/-.
Provided that in no case shall such value exceed the real value of the contents of the article insured:
Provided also that articles containing Government currency notes or bank notes or gold coin or bullion or gold ornaments or articles of gold any combination of these shall be insured for the actual value of the contents.(2)
Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-rule (1), the insurance of all value payable articles on which the amount specified for recovery exceeds Rs.500/-, other than excepted articles, shall be compulsory for at least the amount specified for recovery from the addressee.
Explanation - In this rule excepted articles mean -
(a) Value-payable packets;
(b) Value-payable letters containing railway goods receipts, legal documents, bonds, policies of insurance, promissory notes, bills of lading or ordinary bills for collection, which have no intrinsic value.
83. Coin, bullion, platinum, precious stones, jewellery, currency notes and articles of gold or silver may be sent by post only in insured letters or insured parcels. If a letter or parcel presented at the post office window is found to contain any such object of value , it shall not be accepted for transmission by post, unless the sender insures it, and if an uninsured article manifestly containing any such object of value is found in course of transmission by post it shall be either intercepted and returned to the sender or forwarded to destination and delivered to the addressee subject to the payment of a fee of two rupees. The payment of this fee shall not impose any liability on the Central Government.
Explanation:- In this rule, the expression articles of gold or silver includes articles made wholly or partly of gold or silver, but not coins and electro or other plated goods. The expression coin does not include cut counterfeit coin remitted on behalf of the currency Department and Mints. The expression Currency notes does not include defaced note, i.e. notes from which the signature has been cut off after cancellation, remitted on behalf of the Currency Department. The expression jewellery includes watches the cases of which are entirely or mainly composed of gold, silver or platinum.
83-A. In the case of articles containing Government currency notes, bank notes, gold coin, bullion or gold ornaments or articles of gold or any combination of these the sender should declare on the article the value of the contents at the time of despatch.
Certain regulations from the Post office Guide - Part I which were referred to during the course of arguments are as under:
81. Period within which complaints should be preferred.- Complaints should be preferred within the time limits indicated below, after which it will not be possible to attend to them as the relevant records in the office concerned would have been destroyed in the usual course:
(i) Complaints relating to money 12 months from the date of issue of the orders and V.P. articles money order, or booking of the V.P. articles (2 years in the case of money money orders issued at Field Post Office) and family allotment money orders remitted on behalf of the seamen working in Indian merchanships.
(ii) Complaints relating to loss Three months from the date of posting of or damage to a registered or the article.
insured article where a claim for compensation is made
(iii) Other complaints relating to the Six months from the date o the incident inland post
(iv) Refund of the telegraph charges Two months from the date of issue on T.M.Os. of the T.M.Os.
(v) Complaints, regarding miscarriage, Twelve months from the last day of the loss of destruction of postal orders month of issue.
Note: The remitter or the payee of a money order is advised to prefer a complaint as early as possible if the money order is not paid within a reasonable time.
82. Particulars to be given in complaints.- Full particulars of the article in question, the exact nature of the complaint, details of the sender and addressee or payee should invariably be given. The complaint should be accompanied by the documents and information furnished as indicated below in the case of the following types of complaints;-
(a) Relating to articles for which a receipt A copy of the receipt.
is issued by the Post Office.
(b) Loss of or delay to unregistered mails (i) Time and date of posting
(ii) Letter box where article was posted
(iii) Full address on the article
(iv) Person posting the article.
In case of delay, the wrapper of cover should be sent.
Loss of contents Particulars of missing contents if known, along with the wrapper or cover.
(d) Overcharges Wrapper or cover wherever possible, the article should be opened before the postmaster.
(e) P.O. Savings Bank Account No. and Office at which opened.
(f) Loss, Miscarriage or destruction of Counterfoil or failing this serial No. of the Post Orders order. Office from which purchased an d date of purchase.
182. Responsibility of the Post office- There will be payable to the sender of an insured postal article compensation not exceeding the amount for which the article has been insured, for the loss of postal article, or any of its contents, or for any damage caused to it in course of transmission by post; provided that the compensation in no case exceeds the value of the article or any of its contents lost or the amount of the damage caused, and provided that, in the case of loss, the sender furnishes full particulars of the contents of the postal article and their values; provided also that no compensation will be payable-
(a) where there has been misdelivery arising out of incorrectness or incompleteness of the address written by the sender;
(b) where there has been fraud on the part of the sender or addressee;
(c) where the insured article has been delivered to the addressee, and he has signed and returned the receipt therefor;
(d) where the sender has not given intimation of the loss within three months from the date of posting;
(e) where the loss or damage was due to improper or insecure packing;
(f) where there is no visible damage to the cover or seals it being understood that the sender must so pack the letter or parcel that its contents cannot be touched without visible damage as aforesaid being caused;
(g) where the insured article contains Government currency notes, bank notes, gold coin or bullion or any combination of these, and has not been insured for the actual value of the contents;
(h) in the case of loss of halves of currency notes;
(i) in the case of damage arising from the nature of the article insured; or
(j) where the insured article contained anything the transmission of which by post is prohibited.
183. Compensation. - (1) Compensation will be payable one month after the date on which intimation of loss is given by the sender to the Post Office, except in cases in which the Head of the Circle may consider that the circumstances demand the withholding of payment pending enquiry.
(2) If after compensation has been paid for the loss of a postal article or any portion of its contents, the contents or any portion thereof are subsequently recovered, the recovered contents will be dealt with as follows, namely:-
(a) If the value of the recovered contents added to the amount of compensation paid is not in excess of the amount of loss, the recovered contents will be restored to the sender.
(b) If the value of the recovered contents added to the amount of compensation paid is in excess of the amount of the loss, the Post office will be entitled either to restore the recovered contents to the sender on his repaying the amount of such excess or to retain and dispose of so much of the recovered contents as may be held by the Head of the circle to represent such excess and restore the rest of the recovered contents, if any, to the sender.
184. Cases in which Insurance is compulsory.- (1) Coin, bullion, platinum, precious stones, jewellery, government currency notes or bank notes and articles of gold or silver may be sent by post only in insured letters, insured parcels. If a letter or parcel presented at the post office window is found to contain any such object of value, it will not be accepted for transmission by post unless the sender insures it; and, if an uninsured article manifestly containing any such object of value is found in course of transmission by post it will be either intercepted and returned to the sender, or forwarded to destination and delivered to the addressee subject to the payment of a fee of two rupees. The payment of this fee will not impose any liability on the Central Government.
Note: the fee of two rupees imposed under this rule will be recovered from the sender if the article is refused by the addressee or the addressee cannot be found.
Explanation: In this rule, the expression articles of gold or silver includes articles made wholly or party of gold or silver, but not coins and electro or other plated goods. The expression coin does not include out counterfeit coins remitted on behalf of the Issue Department of the Reserve Bank of India and Mints. The expression currency notes does not include defaced notes, i.e. notes from which the signature has been cut off after cancellation, remitted on behalf of Isssue Department of the Reserve bank of India. The expression jewellery includes watches the cases of which are entirely or mainly composed of gold, silver or platinum.
(2) Insurance is also compulsory for at least the amount specified for recovery from the addressee in the case of all value payable articles (other than value payable letters containing Railway receipts, bills, invoices, documents etc. of no intrinsic value and value payable packets containing printed papers, books etc. sent under book packet rates) on which the amount specified for recovery exceeds Rs.100.
185. Declaration of value of gold coin or bullion or gold ornaments or articles of gold - In the case of articles containing gold coin or bullion or gold ornaments or articles of old, Government currency notes or bank notes or any combination of these sender should declare on the article the value of the contents at the time of despatch.
Postal Department has also filed a Hand Book on Speed Post (Services and Operations )corrected upto 1.3.1997 issued by the Chief Post Master General, Punjab Circle Chandigarh which was perhaps meant for the use of the officials of the Department as the Hand Book is for Restricted Circulation. Some of the relevant clauses from this Hand Book which were referred we reproduce as under:
2.3: Prohibitions/Restrictions:
Due to existing regulations, Speed Post can not accept the following items:
Gold, Silver, Jewellery, Currency Notes, Precious Stones, Bearer Cheques, Travellers Cheques and any other precious and semi-precious items. Explosive-Flammable and inflammable, Chemicals, Gases Compressed, Liquified or Deeply Refrigerated, Oxidizing substances, Poisonous, toxic and Infectious, Corrosive substances, Drugs (narcotics) Electronic items, Television, VCRs, Radios, Transformers, Alarm, Clocks etc. Bulk Pharmaceuticals, Miscellaneous dangerous goods including magnetized materials/articles liable to damage aircraft etc. 9.4: Disposal of Articles not Delivered in First Attempt:
If the article is not delivered in the first attempt an intimation slip is left at the premises of the addressee on the same day. One more attempt is made on the second day for delivery of article through (Speed Post) delivery staff In case the article is not delivered even in the second attempt, the same will be kept in deposit as a Speed post article for a period of 6 days, and, thereafter it will be returned to the sender as a Speed Post Article with appropriate remarks indicating the reason for non-delivery.
Dte No.43-3/89-D dt. 25.9.89) & DD/Delivery/01/96 dt. 19.12.96)
13. Compensation and Refunds:
13.1 Refund of Speed Post Charges:
13.1.1 Double the composite Speed Post charges to the sender in case of delayed delivery of speed post articles, is admissible This is equally applicable in the case of point to point and contractual services.
(Dte No.1-3/93-CI(Pt) dt.10.10.95) 13.1.2 Such refunds are permissible only when the articles are either not delivered or are delivered late due to operational/ service faults on the part of Postal Department. In case the article is delivered late due to late running of railway trains and miscarriage by arilines, there is no fault of the Postal Department. It has however, been since decided that PMsG should use their discretion somewhat liberally so that public do not loose faith in our service.
(Dte.
No.43-4/87-D 9Refund) dt.18.2.88 13.1.3 The office of delivery must send an intimation to the office of booking in the prescribed proforma intimating the reasons for late delivery or non delivery, so that as soon as the sender claim refund, the same could be verified from the intimation received from the office of booking.
(Dte No.4311/88-D dt.20.6.88 13.1.4 No refund of Proof of Delivery (POD) charges will be given in case of loss of POD. In such cases a duplicate of the POD may be obtained and delivered in the shape of certificate of delivery to the addressee.
(Dte No.43-9/94-D dt. 8.11.95) 13.1.5 While sanctioning compensation, delay occurring due to curfew, bandhs etc. will not count as delay in delivery of Speed Post articles and hence no compensation will be given in such cases. In case of curfew, bands etc. only the days when curfew etc. was in force should be counted for relaxing norms for delivery i.e. if the norms is next day delivery and there is curfew for one-day, the speed post articles should be delivered on the third working day after the day of posting. Norms for delivery should be publicised in days i.e. next working day, second working day and third working day after the day of posting instead of D + 1, D + 2 or 24 hours, 48 hours etc. (Dte No.1-3/93 CI(Pt) dt. 12.12.95) 13.2 Compensation in case of Loss of Speed Post Article:
Compensation of Rs.200/- in case of loss or damage to the contents of Speed Post article is admissible to the sender:
Note: Cases of refund/compensation will be sanctioned by the Manager, SPCC if he is a gazetted officer in other cases these will be dealt with by the concerned Senior Post Master/ Supdt. Post offices.
(Dte No.1-3/93-CI Pt) dt.10.10.96) We have extensively set out relevant provisions with respect to articles sent by Speed Post as these are not readily available to District Forums and State Commission. But then it is Section 6 of the Post Office Act which is the mother of all liabilities under which Postal Department or its officials can be saddled with. Section 6 we reproduce:
6. Exemption from liability for loss, misdelivery, delay or damage - The Government shall not incur any liability by reason of the loss, misdelivery or delay of, or damage to, any postal article in course of transmission by post, except in so far as such liability may in express terms by undertaken by the Central Government as hereinafter provided; and no officer of the Post Office shall incur any liability by reason of any such loss, misdelivery, delay or damage, unless he has caused the same fraudulently or by his willful act or default.
Section 6 of the Post Office Act has been interpreted by this Commission in the case of Senior Post Master, G.P.O. Pune vs. Akhil Bharatiya Grahak Panchayat & Anr. - II (1995) CPJ 230 and in the Post Master, Imphal & Ors. vs. Dr. Jamini Devi Sagolband - I(2000) CPJ 28 . Section 6 exempts Post Office from any liability for loss misdelivery, delay or damage of any postal article in course of transmission by post, except to such extent as the liability may be undertaken by the Government in the express terms. An officer of the Post office is similarly exempted from any liability unless he has caused loss etc. fraudulently or by his willful act or default.
Based on Post Office Act and the Rules argument of Mr. B.K. Agarwal;
and Mr. Sunil Sharma counsel for the Post office is quite simple and that no compensation is payable outside these rules. Mr. Vishnu Mehra, learned counsel, however, submitted that one has to see the background under which Section 6 of the Post Office Act has been enacted. According to him scheme of Speed Post is a departure to which Section 6 would not be applicable. He said first part of Section 6 deals with complete immunity of the Government from any liability But second part would be applicable regardless of any scheme under which postal article is sent. He, therefore, said that Postal Authorities cannot claim absolute immunity in respect of article sent by Speed Post. Mr. Mehra said even if it is assumed Postal Authorities are entitled to immunity under the first part of Section 6 of the Post Office Act, they are not so entitled on the facts of these cases before us as it was a clear case of default on their part. We do not think we would agree wholly to submission of Mr. Mehra. He is right to the extent that no officer of the Post Office can escape liability over any loss, misdelivery, delay or damage to the postal article when it has been caused by him fraudulently or by willful act or default. This part of Section 6 will certainly apply when article is also sent by Speed Post. However, there is no allegation of any fraud, willful act or default against any of the officers of the Post Office in the present case.
Scheme of Speed Post has been provided under Indian Post office Rules of 1933 by inserting Rule 66B. As noted above, these Rules are statutory. Complaints regarding any article booked under Speed Post (including demand for refund of fees in cases of non-delivery of articles within the stipulated time) are to be preferred within three months from the date of booking of the articles. Rule 66B was further amended by inserting two more sub rules which provided that in case of delay of Speed Post article beyond the norms determined by the Department of Posts from time to time compensation will be provided which shall be equal to composite Speed Post charges paid. It also provided that in the event of loss of Speed Post article or loss of contents or damage to the contents, compensation shall be double the amount of the composite fee Speed Post charges paid or Rs.1,000/- which ever is less. It would be thus seen that maximum compensation statutorily fixed is Rs.1,000/- which can be granted when there is a loss of Speed Post article or loss of its contents or even damage to the contents. Norms to which reference has been made have been provided in the circular dated 22.1.99. Under Rule 83 letters or parcels containing coin, bullion, currency notes etc. are to be sent by post only in insured covers. Under Rule 83A when a letter or parcel contains government currency notes, bank notes, gold coins etc. sender has to declare on the article the value of the contents and the time of despatch.
In the case of Vijay Rattan Aggarwal (Revision Petition No.15/97) no case has been made out that it was ever declared that letter contained two bank drafts. Even if it is so declared there is a limit of amount of compensation to be paid which is Rs.1,000/-. Under the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 we cannot go beyond the statutory provisions and grant compensation more than that what is statutorily fixed. A Consumer Forum is even bound by the terms of the contract howsoever oppressive these may be unless those terms are against public policy, illegal or void.
We, therefore, do not find justification in the Revision Petition No.15/1997 and Revision Petition No.1006/2001 for the District Forum to grant any compensation except to award the total amount of composite Speed Post charges in each of these two cases and for the State Commission to affirm the same.
As far as Revision Petition No.11035/2002 is concerned, complainant has already been awarded refund of Speed Post fee paid by him. He is not entitled to any further compensation.
Accordingly Revision Petition Nos. 15/1997 and 1006/2001 are allowed. Revision Petition No.1035/2002 is dismissed. Compensation awarded is set aside. However, if any compensation is paid in Revision Petition Nos.15/1997 and 1006/2001 that may not be recovered as great deal of effort will have to be put in to recover the amount.
Postal Authorities can well better save their energies and time and devote the same for more fruitful purpose.
J (D.P. WADHWA) PRESIDENT J (J.K. MEHRA) MEMBER .
(B.K. TAIMNI) MEMBER