Chinanews client, Beijing, December 7 (Peng Ningling) Recently, a 79-year-old man in Chongqing died suddenly while moving upstairs after picking up the courier package, which caused concern: Should the courier company be held responsible for the sudden death of the old man?

Should the courier be picked up or delivered by him?

The old man died suddenly while carrying a courier upstairs.

Source: Beijing News

The 79-year-old man died suddenly after taking the courier service. Should the courier company be held responsible?

　　According to media reports, recently, the elderly He Shiwan, who was nearly eighty years old in Wanzhou District, Chongqing, died suddenly while moving upstairs after taking the courier.

　　The video reported by the media showed that the old man had rested for a while at the entrance of the corridor before moving back to the courier to go up the steps, and then stepped up the stairs step by step, staggering.

　　The family of the deceased said that the express weighed 22 jin and the delivery method was delivery upstairs.

According to the recording of the call provided by the courier company, the call did not indicate that the courier would be delivered upstairs.

　　According to the son-in-law of the deceased, on December 2, the relevant person in charge of the courier company, Ms. Liu, called him to solicit the opinions and ideas of the family of the deceased.

On behalf of his family members, he proposed that he hoped that the courier company would visit the elderly’s wife and apologize for failing to fulfill the service agreement; compensate the family members of the elderly by 500,000 yuan.

　　On December 3, the express company responded: When the courier communicated with the customer on the phone, the customer made it clear that he took the initiative to pick up the goods. The operation of the courier was in line with the company's process, and the company had sent someone to communicate with the family.

　　The sudden death of the old man and the failure of the courier company to deliver the goods caused heated discussions among netizens.

Some netizens said that there is no legal causal link between self-collecting express delivery and the sudden death of the elderly, and the express delivery company is not responsible.

There are also people who think that it is unreasonable for express delivery not to be delivered to your doorstep, not to mention that the express delivery company should bear indirect responsibility for letting people who are almost 80 years old pick up more than 20 kilograms of express delivery.

　　Deng Qianqiu, a lawyer of Beijing Zhongwen Law Firm, stated that the shipper and the express company have formed a contractual relationship. The courier performs the delivery obligation on behalf of the express company and is responsible for delivering the express to the agreed address.

“If the courier decides not to deliver the parcel without the consent of the elderly, and informs the elderly to pick up the parcel by himself, the express company has violated the contract with the shipper and shall bear the corresponding liability for breach of contract in accordance with the agreement.”

　　The lawyer also mentioned that regardless of whether the courier did not come to the door to deliver the package or not obtained the consent of the elderly, there is no legal causal relationship between the sudden death of the elderly and the courier’s non-commissioning service, which cannot meet the constitutive requirements of tort liability, so the close relatives of the elderly cannot Accordingly, the express delivery company is required to bear the liability for compensation.

　　"The absence of express delivery may be a condition for the sudden death of the elderly, but it is not a causal relationship. The standard for judging causality in civil law is quite causal, that is, the behavior of A will cause B consequences under normal circumstances, and it can be said that there is a causal relationship between A and B. "Deng Qianqiu said that as far as this case is concerned, the absence of express delivery will generally not cause death, so there is no causal relationship between the two.

"Regardless of whether it is general tort liability or special tort liability, causality is a necessary element. If there is no causal relationship, there is no tort liability."

In Shanghai, citizens waited for express items at the gate of the community.

Photo by Yin Liqin (not related to graphics and text)

Is it enough to comply with the process if the courier does not come to the door?

　　In recent years, my country's express delivery industry has developed rapidly.

According to previous news from the State Post Bureau, the volume of express delivery services in China has increased from 5.7 billion in 2012 to 83.5 billion in 2020, a net increase of 14 times and an average annual growth rate of 40%.

　　The doubling of express delivery business brings convenience to people's lives, but also brings some problems.

　　The sudden death of the old man taking express delivery has made many netizens complain about the experience of "forced" to take express delivery: "My express delivery is no longer in my control", "receiving express delivery" has changed to "taking express delivery", the courier sends a text message on the phone, or Don't say hello at all and treat the smart express cabinet as a "hands-off cabinet".

　　In May 2018, my country's first regulation specifically for the express delivery industry, the "Interim Regulations on Express Delivery" came into effect.

It stipulates that an enterprise engaged in express delivery services shall deliver the express mail to the agreed receiving address, the recipient or the recipient designated by the recipient, and inform the recipient or the recipient of the acceptance in person.

The recipient or the consignee has the right to check and accept in person.

　　In 2019, the "Administrative Measures for the Delivery Service of Smart Express Boxes" issued by the State Post Bureau once again clarified that the use of smart express boxes for express mail should be approved by the recipient.

　　However, practice has proved that since the implementation of relevant regulations, the phenomenon of express delivery has not decreased significantly.

　　Deng Qianqiu believes that standardizing express delivery services requires market competition and the survival of the fittest will eliminate express delivery companies that cannot provide high-quality services. In addition, a sound and strong disciplinary mechanism must be established.

"When the express delivery company will pay a high price for door-to-door delivery if it does not comply with the contract, I believe that the chaos of "no-door delivery" will be greatly reduced."

　　Some people also mentioned that for couriers and take-out guys, one must consider the fact that this group is low-paid and hard-working.

　　However, hard work should not be an excuse for irresponsible work.

A service job is its ease and my hard work. Consumers should not be responsible for the actions of service providers.

　　In addition, in July this year, after the seven departments issued the "Opinions on Doing a Good Job in Protecting the Legal Rights and Interests of the Courier Group," many companies have successively adopted various methods to increase the salaries of couriers and takeaways.

From the perspective of the law, home delivery is not an absolute requirement. As long as the prior consent is obtained, it is not impossible to reduce work appropriately.

　　People choose online shopping and express delivery mostly for convenience. If inconvenience is caused in the last link of delivery, express delivery will lose its proper meaning.

Regarding this incident, netizens’ dissatisfaction may not be limited to questioning whether the courier’s operations are “in accordance with the process”, but as a young man, seeing an 80-year-old man carrying a courier weighing more than 20 kilograms and climbing stairs, whether he should More care?

After all, this is not just a consumer, but an elderly person.

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