India Post may become exclusive carrier of letters below 500gm

In a bid to clip the wings of private courier services, the government is considering amendment of the law to give itself the exclusive right to carry letters weighing below 500 grams.

This will facilitate Department of Posts to regain the lucrative segment, which it had over the years lost to private courier industy.

“The present 1898 Indian Postal Act exclusively gives the right to Department of Posts to carry letters… It does not allow private couriers to carry letters, it only allows them to carry documents. But these private companies are carrying letters in the name of documents which is in anyway a violation of the Act,” Shakeel Ahmad, Minister of State for IT and Telecom told PTI.

“So we are trying to plug-in the loopholes by proposing changes in the Act”, he said.

The proposed changes in the Act will allow private players to carry letters above 500 gms and thereby, will offer a level playing field to the private players, the minister said, adding the existing Act totally bars them from carrying any letters.

“The proposed amendement will also set differentiation on a letter and document even for below 500 gms of weight so that the private sector does not take advantage of the lack of it.

“The final draft will be ready soon in consultation with Law Ministry and we will very soon send it for Cabinet approval and if all goes well, it will be preferably introduced in the Budget session”, he said.