KOMMERSANT. FOR THE FIRST TIME, A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT HAS BEEN FILED AGAINST RUSSIAN POST ALLEGING VIOLATION OF CONSUMER RIGHTS AND RECOVERY OF A FINE AND PENALTY FOR LATE DELIVERY OF INTERNATIONAL PARCELS. CASE DISCUSSION.

A class action lawsuit was filed against Russian Post for the first time. Twenty citizens are asking the court to pay a penalty for violating the terms and conditions of delivery of parcels abroad in March-August 2020. Russian Post cites force majeure circumstances in connection with the pandemic and border closures. Lawyers interviewed by Kommersant say that the demands are justified, stating that postal flights have not been stopped and that the operator has long had the problem of overdue deliveries. The problem is that there are no clear deadlines for international shipping.

As Pavel Ganin, Partner at A.T.Legal, explained to Kommersant: 

• "This class action lawsuit concerns citizens' claims against Russian Post for exceeding delivery deadlines for international mail from March to August 2020. In this case, the violation of international and domestic delivery deadlines by Russian Post has been taking place for a very long time, in connection with which the consideration of this kind of claim is of great interest and may further contribute to the formation of positive judicial practice on similar claims. 
• As can be seen from the content of the claim, the delay in the delivery was more than 33 days in each case (for each of the plaintiffs). It is important to bear in mind that there are no clear deadlines specifying a specific number of days for sending international items. The general rules applicable to the international postal service are governed by the Universal Postal Convention adopted in Istanbul on 06.10.2016. Article 14 of this convention requires member countries or their designated operators to establish and publish their standards and benchmarks for the delivery of incoming letter-post and parcels. These standards and benchmarks, increased by the time normally required for customs control, shall not be less favorable than those which apply to similar items of their domestic service.
• Control deadlines for forwarding written correspondence are approved by Order of the RF Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media No. 257 of 04.06.2018. According to Clause 5 of this Order, control deadlines for forwarding domestic written correspondence are determined by impressions of calendar postmarks of places of acceptance and delivery of postal items.
• With regard to international registered written correspondence, the control time shall include the maximum time for forwarding international written correspondence, excluding the time required for processing at the place of international postal exchange between the receiving place and the place of international postal exchange in respect of outgoing international written correspondence, or between the place of international postal exchange and the delivery place in respect of incoming international written correspondence.
• What is meant by "the maximum time for sending international written correspondence"?

Appendix No. 1 to this Order contains "Control time limits for sending written correspondence between cities of federal significance and administrative centers of constituent entities of the Russian Federation".

However, there are no set time limits for sending correspondence outside the Russian Federation.

Based on the contents of the class action lawsuit, there is also no indication of specific deadlines for sending items.

Obviously, there is a legal uncertainty, which in this case can be resolved by a court of general jurisdiction in accordance with the RF legislation.

At the same time, the Respondent itself - the Russian Post, in response to the claim of a group of persons admits the existence of delays in the dispatches.

At the same time, it seems reasonable to provide the court with the most complete substantiation of claims and calculations clearly showing the excess of "maximum forwarding time of international correspondence" in order to make a positive decision by the court on the claimed requirements and to confirm the amount of penalty to be exacted from the Respondent.

In each case of violation of time limits for sending international mail, it is also necessary to take into account the norms for sending correspondence from a particular city, subject of the Russian Federation, to the place of international postal exchange.

• The main argument of Russian Post is "the existence of force majeure circumstances - the COVID-19 pandemic, the closure of borders, and the interruption of transport services between countries.

It seems that the class action lawsuit contains a fairly complete refutation of this argument. Indeed, the restriction of international flights did not concern cargo and postal flights - according to the information of Rosaviatsia dd. 26.03.2020 "Clarifications in connection with the introduction of flights restriction in the Russian Federation".

Thus, from the currently known actual circumstances of the dispute it is clear that Russian Post had an objective opportunity to send international correspondence in the usual order and time.

Moreover, during the disputed period there was no state of emergency on the territory of the Russian Federation.

Thus, the Russian Post's reference to the pandemic situation can be regarded as shifting responsibility for the violations and unfair behavior towards consumers of postal services. It is up to the federal judge considering this legal dispute to assess these circumstances.

It seems reasonable to support the emerging practice of filing and considering class action lawsuits by RF citizens against companies in order to protect rights and interests of these individuals, which will obviously lead to an improvement in the overall level of legal culture in the RF.

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