Canada man never receives homemade food sent from India: Consumer commission orders courier company to pay over Rs 65,000; here's why

Canada man never received homemade food sent from India after the courier company handling the consignment damaged the parcel during transit, discarded it, and neither delivered it to the recipient nor returned it to the sender.

A consumer commission in Hyderabad has since ordered NRI Air Cargo and its courier partners to jointly pay over Rs 65,000 to the complainant, covering proportionate courier charges, compensation, and litigation costs.

What Happened to the Canada-Bound Parcel


On 31 July 2022, the complainant booked a 46 kg consignment with NRI Air Cargo for delivery to Canada, paying courier charges at Rs 800 per kg, amounting to Rs 36,800 for the full consignment.

The consignment was split into two parcels. The 15 kg parcel was delivered. The 30 kg parcel, which contained the homemade food, was not.

UPS, which handled the final leg of delivery in Canada, recorded in its tracking system that the package had been damaged and that all merchandise had been discarded. The sender, it noted, would be notified.

The parcel was neither delivered to the son in Canada nor returned to the sender in India.

What did NRI Air Cargo Say?

Before the commission, NRI Air Cargo argued that the 30 kg parcel was not delivered because its weight exceeded 30 kg. The commission rejected this outright.

It noted that if excess weight had been the genuine reason for non-delivery, that objection would ordinarily have been raised at the time the consignment was accepted, not after the fact. The courier had accepted the parcel, collected the full charges, and only raised the weight argument when the matter came before the commission.

More critically, the commission found that the courier's own documentary evidence, specifically the email trail between all courier agencies involved, consistently attributed non-delivery to damage during transit and the subsequent claim investigation, not to any weight issue. The commission held the weight argument could not be sustained.

Many Courier Companies Were Involved

The commission found that NRI Air Cargo did not handle the shipment alone. After accepting the consignment, it forwarded the parcel to a Regional Network Partner, which then handed it to ICL for international transportation before it reached UPS at the destination in Canada.

The commission held that all three, NRI Air Cargo, its regional partner, and ICL, actively participated in the transportation and handling of the shipment. Having accepted the consignment and collected charges, they were under a contractual obligation to either deliver it safely or return it to the sender if delivery failed.

Their own documents established that the parcel was damaged due to leakage during transit, discarded by UPS, and neither delivered nor returned. The commission ruled this constituted both a breach of contract and a clear deficiency in service under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.

What Compensation Did the Court Award?

The commission calculated the courier charge refund proportionately. Since only the 30 kg parcel went undelivered, the refund was set at Rs 24,000, calculated at Rs 800 per kg for 30 kg.

On the value of the lost contents, the commission noted that the complainant had not declared an enhanced value for the consignment or purchased additional transit insurance. Applying the minimum liability policy governing international carriage, it awarded 100 Canadian Dollars, equivalent to Rs 6,708.

Both these amounts will carry interest at 9 per cent per annum from the date of booking, 31 July 2022, until full realisation.

Additionally, the commission awarded Rs 25,000 as compensation for deficiency in service, inconvenience, and harassment, and Rs 10,000 towards litigation costs.

The total directed payout comes to Rs 65,708. All three opposite parties are jointly and severally liable, meaning any one of them can be pursued for the full amount.

The commission dismissed the complaint against the fourth opposite party. Compliance is required within 45 days of receiving the order.

Check the case judgement here: