Relocation firm asked to pay Rs 60,000

A consumer court directed Writer Relocations, an office-home relocation service, to pay Rs 60,000 for failing to transport goods from Bengaluru to Japan.

The court also asked them to compensate the customer from Bengaluru for causing him mental harassment and pay the litigation cost.

The complainant M V Anil Raj, a resident of Rajarajeshwari Nagar, left for Japan trusting the relocation service to transport about 20 cartons of materials to Japan. He paid the company Rs 1,75,548 for the service.

The cartons contained materials needed to inaugurate a restaurant in Japan.

The boxes did not reach Raj and the company made excuses and returned just Rs 1,30,514.50 to the complainant. Raj charged the company of deficiency in service by not delivering the goods on time and not returning his money in full.

The Bengaluru Rural and Urban I Additional District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, headed by its president H R Srinivas and member Suresh D, passed an ex-parte order since the service company did not appear before the court.

The court directed the branch manager of Writer Relocations to pay Raj the pending amount of Rs 45,034.50 with 12% interest per annum till the payment is made. It also directed the company to pay a further Rs 10,000 to compensate the mental harassment they caused to Raj and Rs 5,000 towards litigation expenses.

The court passed an order, asking the company to comply with the order within 30 days from the date of the order.

The branch manager of Writer Relocations told DH that their partner in Japan could not get customs clearance for the materials in the cartons. The customs asked for a commercial licence to transport the materials, which was communicated to the complainant.