Draft postal amendment Bill next week

The Department of Posts (DoP) will soon float a draft amendment Bill to overhaul the Indian Postal Act of 1898.

According to officials, the draft, which contains a number of amendments, would be hosted on the DoP website next week and comments of both industry associations and private players would be sought before it is finalised and sent for the Cabinet's approval.

The draft is expected to generate some heat as it is likely to recommend that a regulator be set up to monitor the operations of both the DoP and private players in the postal sector.

It is also likely to propose that the department be given exclusive rights for carrying letters below 500g, and suggest that the postal segment emulate the telecom sector by setting up a Universal Service Obligation (USO) fund to finance unviable operations in rural India, sources say.

All telecom operators pay 5 per cent of their total revenues towards the USO fund, which is used to fund rural telephony.