Consumer rights: Courier service to pay damages for a missing shoe and a suit

Rs70,000 would be paid by DHL for missing items.

LAHORE:

A consumer court on Friday directed DHL Pakistan Pvt to pay Rs70,000 as damages to a petitioner for losing a shoe and a suit during delivery.

The petitioner, Mian Zafar Iqbal, had filed for damages worth Rs315,610. He said the items were sent through the courier service to Maryland, USA for his niece’s wedding.

Iqbal told the court that DHL officials had promised him that the items would reach USA by April 28 but they were delivered on May 2. He said that his sister and her family were further dismayed when they found out that one shoe and a suit were missing from the parcel. The parcel weighed 5 kg when it reached its destination, while it was 6kg when it was dispatched.

Iqbal informed the court that his sister had complained at DHL’s Maryland office while he had lodged a complaint at the Gulberg office. He said that the manager had assured him that the lost items would be recovered but after a few days they were offered a compensation worth of $42.

He pleaded the court that DHL be made to pay Rs50,000 as the price of the lost suit, Rs5,000 as the price of the shoes, Rs10,610 as freight charges, Rs2,00,000 as damages and Rs50,000 legal fee.

The respondent had raised a number of objections about the maintainability of the petition. According to him, he had guaranteed compensation for the lost items. The compensation was equal to the estimated worth of the items i.e. $42 by the petitioner.

The judge after hearing arguments from both sides decreed that the respondent pay Rs55,000 for the lost items and Rs15,000 in compensation.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 3^rd, 2012.