India Post seeks return to monopoly on letters

In a move that will have serious implications for the Rs 2,500-crore courier industry, the United Progressive Alliance government has revived the Indian Post Office (Amendment) Bill, 2002 that seeks to regulate private courier and express companies. If the Bill is enacted, all courier companies would be barred from carrying letters, to be defined as packets below a certain weight. The draft Bill proposes to vest the government’s postal department with the exclusive privilege of carrying all letters. The amendment is also likely to include regulatory provisions including imprisonment and penalties for courier firms, which already fall under the purview of various legislations like the Consumer Protection Act and Customs Act. When contacted, department of posts secretary R Ganeshan refused to comment. A source in the department, however, confirmed that the draft Bill was being finalised. The Bill to amend the Indian Postal Act of 1898 vintage was earlier tabled in Parliament by the NDA government, but was referred to a standing committee headed by Somnath Chatterjee. The existing Act does not clearly define letters in terms of their weight. Industry chambers CII and Ficci and the Express Industry Council of India (EICI), the apex association representing 80% of the courier business, made a strong case before the standing committee that the department of posts, being a business competitor, should not regulate the private sector. Sources in the department of posts said once the Bill is enacted, courier companies will require government registration or licence. A new definition of postal article’ is also on the cards, they said. This would specify the weight which private courier companies can carry. In fact, the draft Bill states, “Wherever posts or postal communications are established by the Central government, all persons, other than a person registered under this Act, are forbidden to collect, carry, tender or deliver letters, or to receive letters for the purpose of carrying or delivering them.” EICI chairman Tushar Jani said there was no need to have such a law. “This is not a monopoly industry,” he said. He suggested that courier companies whose charges are more than four times the cost of ordinary postal service should be kept out of the ambit of the Act. “If there’s an urgency to send a letter, and a consumer is ready to pay more for it, he should have the choice to do so,” Mr Jani said.