NEW
DELHI: In a rare observation coming from the official auditor, the
Comptroller and Auditor General has appreciated the functioning of the
postal department. The reason: deliveries of speed post letters which
are more reliable and faster than private courier services.
Delivery
of letters by speed post ranged from 1-9 days in major cities with 99%
chances of letters reaching addressees. In comparison, the private
courier services turned out to be less reliable with 92% test check
letters reaching destination, and time taken ranged from 1-10 days.
A CAG report,
tabled in Parliament recently, has said that the performance of speed
post has been better than the private couriers in major cities, at the
tehsil level and at village level.
In
order to compare the performance and quality of speed post service with
private courier agencies for delivery of mails, a test check was
conducted by CAG in eight postal circles -- Gujarat, Maharashtra,
Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya
Pradesh. Checks were conducted by posting hundreds of letters.
As
far as delivery performance was concerned, it was found that 98%
letters were delivered by speed post in local areas as compared to 93%
by private couriers. In major cities, the delivery performance by speed
post was 99% as compared to 92% of private couriers. At the tehsil level
only speed post could reach 100% addressees that too within 1-7days.
Private couriers could only deliver 83% letters and time ranged from
1-23 days.
"Based
on the results, it could be concluded that the speed post service of
the department of posts (DoP) was better than the services provided by
the private courier services," the auditor said.
Speed
post service was introduced in 1986 to provide a fast and time-bound
delivery service in major cities. However, due to late delivery of mails
people had stopped relying on the department for timely-delivery of
documents. Still, speed post services account for more than 10% of the
total revenue of DoP.
In
the test check, the auditor had posted 284 letters by speed post and
287 by different private courier services. The performance was judged
based on the number of letters sent, letters actually delivered, and
time taken for delivery of test letters by speed post as well as private
couriers.
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