(Yicai Global) April 15 -- Cainiao Network, the logistics arm of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding, is offering free home delivery to residents in Beijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou whose packages have been left at drop off stations without their consent.

Consumers in Beijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou can choose between collection from a Cainiao pick-up station or delivery from the pick-up depot to their homes when they order goods on Alibaba’s e-marketplace Taobao, the Hangzhou-based company said. Both services will be free of charge, it added.

Couriers have started to refuse to deliver to home addresses, and prefer to leave packages at pick up stations without the customer’s consent, leading to a string of complaints to China’s State Post Bureau.

The extra Cainiao service, which aims to improve the consumer experience and their right to choose, will be rolled out nationwide gradually, it said.

Editor: Kim Taylor