Hyderabad: A consumer court has ordered an international courier company to pay Rs 50,000 in compensation to a city doctor after his parcel, meant for his daughter in the United Kingdom, ended up in the hands of a stranger in Ireland.
The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission 1, comprising President B Umavenkata Subbalakshmi and Members C Lakshmi Prasanna and V Janardhan Reddy, held Atlantic International Courier and its Secunderabad booking agent, Indra Enterprises, jointly responsible for the mix-up, ruling it a clear deficiency in service.
The complainant, Tarnaka resident Ponna Srinivas, had paid Rs 9,450 in 2025 to send a parcel to his daughter’s UK address through Indra Enterprises, which operates as an authorised agent for Atlantic International Courier. Instead of reaching her, the consignment was handed over to an unrelated person named Rahul in Ireland.
Srinivas moved the Commission seeking compensation, arguing that the error caused him financial loss and considerable mental agony.
The Bench found that since Srinivas had booked a single, seamless international courier service, both the agent and the courier company shared accountability for the delivery failure. Indra Enterprises was directed to refund Rs 23,691 towards airfare costs and Rs 5,400 towards shipping charges, while Atlantic International Courier was ordered to separately pay Rs 50,000 for the mental agony caused.
In its order, the Commission underlined that courier operators carry a duty to ensure precise delivery, especially on international shipments, and that a wrongful delivery of this kind amounts to a deficiency in service warranting compensation.
