The court upheld the decisions of lower forums regarding the inadequacy of evidence for compensation claims and affirmed the jurisdictional boundaries of consumer forums.

1. ”The present Revision Petition has been filed by the Petitioners under S.21(b) of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 (hereinafter referred to as the Act) against the impugned Order dated 16.11.2011, passed by the Gujarat State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (hereinafter referred to as the State Commission) in Appeal No. 1666/2010, whereby the Appeal filed by the Petitioners was dismissed and the Order of District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, Ahmedabad (hereinafter referred to as the District Forum) was confirmed.

2. The brief facts are that on 17.4.2008, Smt. Durga Dalal (hereinafter referred to as the Petitioner No. 2) entered into a contract with Akash Packaging and Shipping, through its Director, Mr. Anil Sharma (hereinafter referred to as the Respondent No. 1) for door - to - door delivery of her household goods from Ahmedabad to North Dakota, USA for a consideration of Rs. 4,07,754. This amount included door - to - door shipment charges, goods to be transported by a 20 feet independent container load, insurance premium for a cover of Rs. 8 lakh (consisting of Rs. 4 lakh for the value of goods and Rs. 4 lakh for transport cost) and service tax, but excluded customs duty in USA. The consideration of Rs. 4,07,754 was paid by Petitioner No. 2 at Ahmedabad by cheque dated 21.4.2008 in favour of Respondent No. 1 with specific condition that the goods were to be delivered at the destination within two months i.e. by 25.6.2008.

3. The consignment containing 120 packets was picked up by Respondent No. 1 along with Respondent No. 3 (Naval Sharma, Manager, Akash Packaging and Shipping) from Ahmedabad on 21.4.2008 with an assurance that the same would reach the destination within two months. However, the departure date from Mumbai was shown as 24.6.2008 and the arrival date at New York was shown as 22.7.2008 and delivery at Fargo, North Dakota was shown as 26.8.2008.
Thus, it took more than 4 months instead of the committed two months from the pick - up from Ahmedabad to delivery at Fargo, North Dakota, USA. It was alleged that in addition to the delayed delivery, the goods reached the destination in a totally damaged condition. The consignment also contained the medical records of Petitioner No. 2 and her husband Shri Dinesh Dalal (hereinafter referred to as the Petitioner No. 5) and due to the said inordinate delay, their medical treatment also got interrupted, and caused inexplicable physical sufferings. Despite repeated requests, Respondent No. 1 did not send to the Petitioners either any official invoice with break - up of all charges and the copy of insurance policy.

4. Being aggrieved by the deficiency in services of the Respondents as delayed delivery of the consignment by 4 months as well as damage caused to goods, the Petitioners filed a Consumer Complaint No. 106 of 2009 before the District Forum, Ahmedabad praying for Rs. 2,25,600 towards compensation, Rs. 9,94,827 for damage to the goods, Rs. 5,00,000 for mental agony and Rs. 50,000 for cost of the litigation from the Respondents.

5. The Respondents denied all the allegations leveled against them. Respondent No. 3 contended that Respondent No. 1 was the sole owner of M/s. Akash Packing and Shipping and therefore, Respondent No. 3 was wrongly made a party to the Complaint and the Complaint was liable to be dismissed. The Respondents also contended that they were not given list of household goods at the time of booking or delivery. The consideration amount did not include the amount of insurance. The Petitioners had not disclosed value of the goods as they might be required to pay customs duty, thus there was no insurance coverage for the goods.