Woman misses job opportunity,courier firm to pay Rs 25,000 for lost form

Taking note of the loss suffered by the applicant,District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has directed Skylark Express to pay a compensation of Rs 25,000 to Garg for causing a loss of job opportunity to the the complainant. Though the firm pleaded that it had a liability of just Rs 100 as per the terms and conditions mentioned in the receipt handed to the complainant,it was also asked to pay Rs 5,000 as litigation charges and Rs 100,the liability amount for delivery failure.

Nidhi had submitted before the forum that she hired the services of Skylark Express through one Sanjeev Garg in Sector 38,to dispatch the envelope containing the form for the post of additional district and sessions judge at Uttarakhand High Court in 2009.

She told the forum the last date of receipt of the application form was July 17,2009,and she was told by the agent of Skylark Express that the form would be delivered by July 16. When she checked,she was told that the envelope had been delivered. On August 16,when she checked the result on the Internet,her name was not among the selected candidates.

On August 17,she sent an e-mail to the registrar general of the High Court to know the status of her application. The next day she spoke to the registrar over the phone and was shocked to know that her application form never reached their office. Nidhi then contacted the courier service provider but in vain.

While replying to the allegations,the courier firm submitted that the envelop was duly delivered to the addressee on July 17. “The complainant had not disclosed the contents of the packet/courier to them at the time of booking and no promise/assurance that the delivery of the packet will be made on or before July 17,was given. The complainant had not produced any written reply of the High Court of Uttarakhand,whether they had received the said envelop or not,” it stated.

The firm further told the forum that as per the terms of the receipt,the liability,if any,on the firm was limited to Rs 100 only and the same was brought to the notice of the complainant before agreeing to book the courier with them.

The forum ruled,“In the absence of any documentary evidence of delivery of the courier by the firm,we are of a view that the firm was negligent and deficient in service due to which the complainant lost an opportunity to appear for the post of additional district and sessions judge in the State of Uttarakhand,since her application form did not reach the authority concerned in time.”