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.
ToI