Movers and packers company fined for damaging goods

CHENNAI: A consumer forum here directed a movers and packers company to pay Rs 1.53 lakh to a city resident for damaging goods while transporting them.
Sharmilee Nielsen said she engaged the services of Leo Packers and Movers, Tiruvanmiyur, to transport goods to her new residence at Kottivakkam. While some of the goods were packed by Sharmillee herself, some others were packed by the company staff.The company delivered the goods on August 13, 2011 after charging Rs 78,313. For insurance coverage the company charged Rs 30,000. When the goods were delivered at her house in the presence of the personnel of the company, most articles were found damaged beyond restoration.
The list of the destroyed goods was provided to the packers company, following which an independent assessor inspected the goods and concluded that the goods were destroyed because of improper handling and jerks during road transit. The worth of damaged goods was assessed at Rs 1.44 lakh. Despite Sharmilee’s request, Leo Packers did not attend the inspection, nor did it settle the claim amount. She then moved the district consumer disputes redressal forum, South Chennai, seeking compensation for damages and deficiency in service.
Denying the arguments, Leo Packers said it had requested Sharmilee to allow special packing of all the goods in an airtight container. As she did not follow the company’s instruction for packing the goods, Leo Packers was not liable to pay damages.
A bench of president B Ramalingam and members K Amala and T Paul Rajasekaran said that despite being informed, the company did not inspect the goods to settle the claim. Without assessment, it had offered to pay Rs 20,000 as compensation to Sharmilee, which was a “meagre amount.” The company did not prove the goods were loosely packed, nor did it refute that it had transported all the goods. There was no evidence to disprove Sharmilee’s claims, said the bench.
It directed the company to pay Rs 1.44 lakh along with 9% interest along with Rs 5,000 as case costs.