Lok Sabha Question No. 3497 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-12-07
Subject: Delivery of Postal Articles
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: NIHAL CHAND CHAUHAN

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF POSTS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.3497 TO BE ANSWERED ON 7 TH   DECEMER, 2016

## DELIVERY OF POSTAL ARTICLES

†3497. SHRI NIHAL CHAND:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) the number of complaints received separately for non-delivery and late delivery of  registered  letters,  parcels,  and  articles  received  from  different  post  offices  in  the country in the last three years and the current year;
- (b) the  number  of  complaints  resolved  out  of  them  along  with  the  details  of complaints still pending and the reasons for pendency;
- (c) the steps taken by the Government to resolve the complaints and action taken against the postal employees responsible for the same; and
- (d) the measures taken by the Government to rectify the loopholes and meet the shortage of employees in the department?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE (IC) OF THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS & MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS (SHRI MANOJ SINHA)

(a) & (b) The number of complaints received separately for non-delivery and late delivery of registered letters, parcels, and articles received from different post offices in the country in the last three years, current year and number of complaints resolved along with details of complaints pending is Annexed. In the case of complaints which are pending for less than a quarter, the reason is seen to be that most of them are under  different  stages  of  inquiry  and  investigation.  The  other  major  reasons  for pendency  include  court  cases,  IT/Network  issues  and  issues  related  to  external stakeholders like airlines.

- (c) Specialized Grievance Redressal Cells have been set up at Circle, Region and Divisional levels for efficient redressal of complaint cases received from the members of public through various modes  like Computerized Customer Care System, Centralized Public Grievance Redressal and Monitoring System (CPGRAM), e-mail, by  Post,  over  telephone,  etc.  Apart  from  these,  a  Toll  Free  Helpline  Centre  and Twitter Sewa Portal have also been set up to settle the public complaints. Review of complaint  cases  by  the  senior  functionaries  is  carried  out  periodically  and  action  is taken to streamline the complaint redressal system as a result of such review. Efforts are taken at Circle, Region and Divisional levels to identify the complaint prone areas and effective measures to resolve the root cause of complaints.

If  any  official  is  found  at  fault  in  non-delivery  and  late  delivery  of  registered letters,  parcels,  and  articles,  suitable  administrative  and  disciplinary  action  is  taken against the defaulting official depending on the gravity of lapses noticed on his part.

- (d) Measures  taken  to  rectify  the  loopholes  to  minimize  the  complaints  are  as under:
- (i) Provisioning of online track and trace facility for Speed Post, Registered Post and Parcels.
- (ii)          Infrastructure  up-gradation  and  site  up-gradation  of  sorting  offices  to improve mail processing.
- (iii) Introduction of dedicated point to point Road Transport for fast & secure transmission of parcels.
- (iv) Equipped  departmental  vehicles  with  Global  Positioning  System  for better monitoring.
- (v) The network for transmission of mail has been comprehensively revised under  the  country-wide  Mail  Network  Optimization  Project,  which  has significantly speeded up the transmission of mail.
- (vi) Quality  Monitoring  Cell  is  functioning  in  the  Circles  to  monitor  timely clearance of mails received at different Mail Offices.
- (vii) Frequent visits to Mail Offices and Sections are carried out by special squads formed for the purpose to arrest accumulation and abstraction of mails.
- (viii) Action  is  taken  to  improve  delivery  efficiency  in  all  the  delivery  Post Offices and to ensure cent percent delivery of mail on the very day of receipt.
- (ix) General  public  is  advised  to  use  correct  pin  code  and  write  proper address.
- (x) Post Office beats and their content is randomly checked through Public Relation Inspectors.  Genuineness  of  the remarks  passed  by  the postman is also being confirmed by contacting the addressee on their mobile number and contact details available on the article, if any.

In  as  far  as  meeting  the  shortage  of  employees  is  concerned,  filling  up  of vacancies is an on-going process in the Department as per the provisions contained in  the  Recruitment  Rules  of  each  cadre.  Regular  recruitment  is  carried  out  and Departmental Promotion Committees meet periodically to fill up the vacant posts as per the vacancies in respect of all cadres in the Department.

Contd…3/-

## ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN PARTS (a) & (b) IN REPLY TO THE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3497 TO BE ANSWERED ON 07.12.2016 RAISED BY SH. NIHAL CHAND, MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT REGARDING DELIVERY OF POSTAL ARTICLES

| I. Complaints regarding Non delivery/Loss of Article   | I. Complaints regarding Non delivery/Loss of Article   | I. Complaints regarding Non delivery/Loss of Article   | I. Complaints regarding Non delivery/Loss of Article   | I. Complaints regarding Non delivery/Loss of Article   | I. Complaints regarding Non delivery/Loss of Article   | I. Complaints regarding Non delivery/Loss of Article   | I. Complaints regarding Non delivery/Loss of Article   | I. Complaints regarding Non delivery/Loss of Article   | I. Complaints regarding Non delivery/Loss of Article   | I. Complaints regarding Non delivery/Loss of Article   | I. Complaints regarding Non delivery/Loss of Article   | I. Complaints regarding Non delivery/Loss of Article   | I. Complaints regarding Non delivery/Loss of Article   |
|--------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------|
| Service                                                | 2013-14                                                | 2013-14                                                | 2013-14                                                | 2014-15                                                | 2014-15                                                | 2014-15                                                | 2015-16                                                | 2015-16                                                | 2015-16                                                | 2016-17 upto September 2016                            | 2016-17 upto September 2016                            | 2016-17 upto September 2016                            | 2016-17 upto September 2016                            |
|                                                        | Receive d Settled                                      | Receive d Settled                                      | Pending as on date                                     | Receiv ed                                              | Settled                                                | Pending as on date                                     | Receiv ed                                              | Settled                                                | Pending as on date                                     | Received                                               | Settled                                                |                                                        | Pendi ng as on date                                    |
| Registered letters                                     | 60254                                                  | 60254                                                  | 60254                                                  | 0 76035                                                |                                                        | 76035                                                  | 0                                                      | 72969                                                  | 72969                                                  | 0                                                      | 47095                                                  | 45858                                                  | 1237                                                   |
| Parcels                                                | 78100                                                  | 78100                                                  | 78100                                                  | 0                                                      | 99551                                                  | 99551                                                  | 0                                                      | 101599                                                 | 101599                                                 | 0                                                      | 61275                                                  | 58528                                                  | 2747                                                   |
| Articles                                               | 2463 2463                                              | 2463 2463                                              |                                                        | 0                                                      | 2599                                                   | 2599                                                   | 0                                                      | 2009                                                   | 2009                                                   | 0                                                      | 1775                                                   | 1636                                                   | 139                                                    |
| II. Complaints regarding Late delivery of Article      | II. Complaints regarding Late delivery of Article      | II. Complaints regarding Late delivery of Article      | II. Complaints regarding Late delivery of Article      | II. Complaints regarding Late delivery of Article      | II. Complaints regarding Late delivery of Article      | II. Complaints regarding Late delivery of Article      | II. Complaints regarding Late delivery of Article      | II. Complaints regarding Late delivery of Article      | II. Complaints regarding Late delivery of Article      | II. Complaints regarding Late delivery of Article      | II. Complaints regarding Late delivery of Article      | II. Complaints regarding Late delivery of Article      | II. Complaints regarding Late delivery of Article      |
| Service                                                | 2013-14                                                | 2013-14                                                | 2013-14                                                | 2014-15                                                | 2014-15                                                | 2014-15                                                | 2015-16                                                | 2015-16                                                | 2015-16                                                | 2016-17 upto September 2016                            | 2016-17 upto September 2016                            | 2016-17 upto September 2016                            | 2016-17 upto September 2016                            |
|                                                        | Received                                               | Settled                                                |                                                        | Pending as on date                                     | Received                                               | Settled                                                | Pending as on date                                     | Receiv ed                                              | Settled Pending on                                     | as date                                                | Received                                               | Settled                                                | Pendi ng as on date                                    |
| Registered letters                                     | 153535                                                 | 15353 5                                                | 0                                                      | 168097                                                 | 168097                                                 | 0                                                      | 1695 10                                                | 169510                                                 | 0                                                      | 105786                                                 |                                                        | 101669                                                 | 4117                                                   |
| Parcels                                                | 82086                                                  | 82086                                                  | 0                                                      | 95222                                                  | 95222                                                  | 0                                                      | 1329 29                                                | 132929                                                 | 0                                                      | 98041                                                  |                                                        | 92067                                                  | 5974                                                   |
| Articles                                               | 19363                                                  | 19363                                                  | 0                                                      | 31868                                                  | 31868                                                  | 0                                                      | 2058 3                                                 | 20583                                                  | 0                                                      | 13156                                                  |                                                        | 12495                                                  | 661                                                    |

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