From Chaina in Faridkot to mainland China

Tribune News Service

Faridkot, February 14

A failure to distinguish between Chaina, a village in Jaito sub-division of Faridkot and the Republic of China by the postal department, has not only resulted in a blunder but also deprived an elderly woman of the necessary medicine here.

Instead of delivering the packet of medicine sent by her daughter to this woman in Chaina village, it reached Beijing in China.

For sending this parcel of medicines to China, instead of Chaina village in Jaito, the District Consumer Forum, Chandigarh, has imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on the postal department, calling it a deficiency in service on its part.

Balwinder Kaur, a resident of Chandigarh, had sent a parcel of medicines to her old aged ailing mother in Chaina village.

The parcel was sent through registered post on January 18. As the parcel did not reach her mother in Chaina village for over a week, Balwinder Kaur was anxious to know about the whereabouts of the parcel containing medicine.

After a lot of efforts, tracking of the consignment found her in utter amazement. She came to know that the parcel she was searching for had reached the Republic of China, instead of Chaina village in Jaito. The wrong sorting of the parcel by the postal department was obviously to blame for this.

Routed through Delhi, the parcel reached Beijing in the third week of January but as there was no Faridkot, Jaito and Chaina in China, so it was sent back to the postal department in Delhi and finally to Chandigarh on January 31.

The post office authorities said that they mistook the address mentioned as Chaina to China which led to the blunder. The post office authorities claimed that after writing the complete address, Balwinder Kaur again wrote the words, ‘delivery Chaina’, creating a confusion, and the parcel was sorted for China.

In defence of its blunder, the postal department claimed that it was exempted from any liability for loss, wrong delivery and damage of goods.

But not convinced with the plea, the District Consumer Forum directed the postal department to pay Rs 2,500 to Balwinder Kaur as compensation and an additional Rs 2,500 as litigation expenses.