IN THE TAMILNADU STATE CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL COMMISSION, CHENNAI.
Present: HON’BLE DR. JUSTICE. S. TAMILVANAN, PRESIDENT
THIRU.K. BASKARAN, JUDICIAL MEMBER
F.A.No.13/2013
(Against the order in C.C.No.64/2011 dated 10.10.2012 on the file of the District Forum, Cuddalore.
MONDAY, THE 04th DAY OF DECEMBER 2017.
Mr. Puranganimurugan,
S/o. Ramamoorthy,
No.72, Mariamman Koil Street,
Purangani,
Kadampuliyoor – Post, - 607 103.
Pandrutti – Taluk,
Cuddalore – District. Appellant/Complainant
Vs
1. The Agent,
S.T. Couriers,
Kumbakonam Road,
Opp. Post Office,
Pandrutti – 607 106.
2. The Administrator,
S.T. Courier,
Head Office
199 – Hariyan Street,
Pallavaram,
Chennai – 600 043. Respondents/Opposite Parties
Counsel for the Appellant/Complainant : Appellant appeared in-person
Counsel for the Respondents/Opposite parties: Exparte
This appeal coming before us for final hearing on 20.11.2017 and on hearing the arguments of the appellant side and on perusing the material records, this Commission made the following:-
ORDER
THIRU.K. BASKARAN, JUDICIAL MEMBER.
This appeal is directed against the order of the learned District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, Cuddalore dated 10.10.2012 passed in C.C.No.64/2011, claiming further relief of compensation for mental agony and hardship by the appellant/complainant.
1. The factual matrix giving rise to the present appeal is as follows;-
That the appellant filed a complaint before the District Forum, Cuddalore claiming refund of Rs.21,355/- and compensation of Rs.25,000/- and costs of Rs.3000/- alleging deficiency in service against the opposite parties who are Courier Service. Before the learned District Forum, though the opposite parties had entered appearance through an advocate they did not file their written version and hence they were set exparte on 18.09.2012 and on considering the proof affidavit filed by the complainant and the documents Exhibits A1 to A7 marked on the side of the complainant, the learned District Forum had partly allowed the complaint directing the opposite parties to refund a sum of Rs.21,355/- together with interest at the rate of 7% per annum from the date of complaint till the date of payment and refused to award any compensation for the alleged mental agony on the ground that interest was awarded on the amount directed to be refunded. The learned District Forum has also awarded cost of Rs.1000/-.
2. Having felt aggrieved over the inadequacy of the relief granted, the complainant had come before this Commission by way of this appeal and as the opposite parties had remained absent and the appellant also did not appear before this Commission on several hearings, this Commission by its order dated 22.11.2013 dismissed the appeal for default and the appellant/complainant took up the matter before the Hon’ble National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission by way of revision and the Hon’ble Natinal Commission by its order dated 03.12.2015 set aside the order of this Commission dismissing the appeal for default and the matter was remanded back to this Commission with a request to this Commission not to dismiss the appeal for the absence of the appellant and decide the appeal on its own merits and hence this appeal is placed before this Commission for disposal.
3. The point for consideration is whether the appellant/complainant is entitled to further relief as sought for in the appeal?
4. The complainant/appellant appearing in person would submit that there is no legal impediment for the learned District Forum to award compensation even if there was an order for refund of certain amount with or without interest as per section 14(1) (c) and (d) of the Consumer Protection Act. We find considerable force and acceptance in the argument advanced by the appellant/complainant appearing in person. The grievance of the appellant is that he was in-charge of performing the marriage of his friend one Thirumurugan on 07.09.2009 at a place called Thiruvathigai and for the purpose of giving gift bags to his friends and relatives who would be attending the marriage, the complainant had personally gone to Sivakasi and placed order for the supply of gift bags 410 numbers at a cost of Rs.21,155/- and he had requested his friend one Gurusamy of Thiruthangal to send the gift bags through the Courier Service operated by the opposite parties and accordingly the consignment/parcel was handed over to the opposite parties on 05.09.2009 vide receipt No. 015520056084. The parcel was booked on the assurance given by the opposite parties that the same would be delivered on Sunday, the 7th September 2009. But the parcel was not delivered either on Sunday, 6th day of September 2009 or on Monday, 7th September 2009 the date on which date the marriage took place and on the other hand the parcel was brought for delivery only on 08.09.2009 only after the next day of the wedding was over and hence the very purpose of the ordering gift bags got defeated by the belated delivery on 08.09.2009 when the marriage itself was over on 07.09.2009 and hence the complainant refused to take delivery of the same.
5) The learned District Forum had accepted all the allegations of the complainant and had also recorded the findings that there was deficiency in service on the part of the opposite parties causing much hardship and mental agony to the complainant. The learned District Forum had further held that the complainant was entitled to get refund of Rs.21,355/- being the costs of 410 gift bags and the transport charges of Rs.200/- paid to the opposite parties together with interest at the rate of 7% from the date of complaint till the date of payment. The learned District Forum had awarded cost of Rs.1000/- also. But refused to award any compensation on the ground that interest at the rate of 7% was ordered to be paid along with the amount directed to be refunded and hence there was no need or necessity to award any amount towards compensation for mental agony.
6. In our considered view the reasoning recorded by the learned District Forum refusing to award compensation for mental agony cannot be sustained. The direction to refund of Rs.21,355/- is to make good the monetary loss suffered by the complainant due to non delivery of the gift bags which were booked for transportation to be delivered at Panrutti on or before 06.09.2009 so as to enable the complainant to give the same to those relatives and friends who attended the wedding function of his friend one Thirumurugan on 07.09.2009 and hence the entire gift bags numbering 410 had become useless and redundant. At the same time, the learned District Forum having held that the deficiency in service committed by the opposite parties resulted in much hardship and metal agony to the complainant could have awarded compensation for the said mental agony to the complainant. One has to perceive the feelings of a person like the complainant who had himself undertaken the responsibility of performing his friend’s marriage and for the purpose of distributing gift bags to the invitees he had taken the pains to travel all along to Sivakasi from Panrutti for purchasing the gift bags. If the gift batches could not be gifted to the invitees who attended the marriage function on 07.09.2009, the complainant as an ordinary man would have definitely felt humiliated and hence he would have suffered a lot of mental agony. Hence, the complainant has to be suitably compensated for the mental agony suffered by him for which the complainant had asked a sum of Rs.25,000/- only as compensation towards mental agony which in our considered view is just and reasonable and would be in the interest of justice taking into consideration of the facts and circumstances of this case stated supra.
7. Hence, we hold that the complainant/appellant is entitled to receive compensation of Rs.25,000/- for the mental agony suffered by him in addition to the other reliefs granted by the learned District Forum in addition to the costs in this appeal and the point is answered accordingly.
8. In the result, the appeal is allowed and ordered as follows;-
(a) The opposite parties 1 and 2 shall jointly and severally pay a sum of Rs.25,000/-as compensation for mental agony and hardship suffered by the appellant/complainant in addition to the other reliefs as granted by the learned District Forum.
(b) The opposite parties 1 and 2 jointly and severally shall also pay a sum of Rs.3000/- as costs in this appeal to the appellant/complainant.
Time for compliance 30 days from the date of this order - In case of failure, the amount stated supra shall carry interest at the rate of 12% per annum from the date of default till the date of payment.
K. BASKARAN, S. TAMILVANAN,
JUDICIAL MEMBER. PRESIDENT.
