IndiaPost to set timeline for changes

300-gm limit to be reduced; sector to be opened up completely, eventually.

After the stick, here comes the carrot. A day after proposing a monopoly on the delivery of all letters up to 300 gm, the department of posts today said the monopoly would not be perpetual and would eventually be abolished.

The monopoly was meant to provide the department a short period of protection to prepare itself for competition from private courier companies, a DoP official told Business Standard.

"This amendment Bill is only the first step towards voluntarily giving up our monopoly on letters, as it restricts our exclusive privilege only to letters under 300 gm," the official said.

The DoP's stand has come in the wake of protests from private courier companies about the draft amendment Bill to the Indian Postal Act 1898, which had recommended that letters weighing up to 300 gm to be the "absolute and exclusive" privilege of IndiaPost.

The DoP official said this weight-based privilege would be abolished in a multi-phased manner.

"In the first step, the 300 gm restriction will be reduced to a lesser weight, and eventually, the sector will be completely opened up," he said, adding that the timeframe would be worked out only after the Bill was passed by Parliament.

Under existing laws, all letters, irrespective of their weight, are the exclusive privilege of India Post. However, the DoP has alleged that private courier companies were indulging in rampant violation of the law by carrying letters and classifying the same as documents.

In yet another development, the DoP official said IndiaPost would share the proposed Universal Service Obligation with private courier companies which extend their operations to rural India. "The details of sharing of the USO levy will be worked out by an independent regulator," they added.

The draft Bill recommends that big courier companies having an annual turnover of Rs 25 lakh or more be charged 10 per cent of their annual revenue towards the USO fund.