Global couriers robbing govt of Rs 1,300 cr a year: Postal dept

Global courier giants which carry mail and parcels to India are using the last mile access of IndiaPost without paying the necessary terminal charges, which results in the government losing over Rs 1,300 crore every year, an official of the Department of Post (DoP) has alleged.

Two international courier agencies, which wished to remain anonymous, countered the allegations. The executives said this issue was brought up to gain support for the controversial amendments that the DoP was planning to make to the Indian Postal Act 1898.

According to the estimates of the DoP, the carriage quotient for mail and parcels brought into the country by private courier companies was about Rs 4,500 crore annually.

Of this, the DoP estimates about 30 per cent (volume) is "injected" into its postal network to take advantage of the subsidised IndiaPost rates. The DoP has also alleged that the private players favoured this illegal system of operation to save costs on setting up a robust delivery mechanism in the country.

The DoP has, however, refused to divulge the names of the private courier companies which use its last mile access, but added that it was looking into the issue.

According to international law, if a letter was being carried from London to Goa, the agency carrying it must pay a terminal charge if it were to use the network of IndiaPost for the Delhi-Pune leg. The terminal charge is calculated as a certain percentage of the total fee for the London-Pune distance.

Officials also added that revenue losses on account of the unpaid transit and terminal charges could be as high as Rs 2,000 crore in the current fiscal.

"The domestic rates of IndiaPost are much lower than those offered by the private players here. Global courier companies use this "illegal" system to access smaller cities and towns across the country," DoP officials said.

The DoP is of the view that this can be addressed only by setting up the proposed independent mail regulatory and development authority.

It also proposed that large private players be charged 10 per cent of their annual revenues as universal service obligation levy. "Private courier agencies oppose the creation of a regulator because their game will be exposed," said an official.