Lok Sabha Question No. 2533 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-12-04
Subject: Delay in Delivery of Post
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Sunil Baburao Mendhe

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF POSTS

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2533 TO BE ANSWERED ON 4 TH   DECEMBER, 2019

## DELAY IN DELIVERY OF POST

## 2533. SHRI SUNIL BABURAO MENDHE:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government proposes to take steps to resolve the issue of delay in the delivery of post and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) if not, the reasons therefor; and
- (c) the steps already taken by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS, LAW & JUSTICE AND ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

- (a) Delivery norms for various categories of mail viz. Speed Post, Registered Post, Unregistered letters/parcels, Business Parcels etc. have been laid down in the Citizen Charter, which are revised from time to time. Continuous efforts  are being made by the Department to ensure compliance of delivery  of  mail  with  the  prescribed  norms  in  the  Citizen  Charter.  Occasional  delay,  however,  in delivery of mail is contributed by factors beyond the control of the Department viz. dependence of the Department on external  agencies such as Airlines, Railways and Road Transport Corporations, for transmission of mail, incorrect or incomplete address provided by the customers, non-use of Pincode, wrong Pincode, non-availability of the addressee, change in the residence of the addressee without information to the concerned Post Office, natural calamity etc.

Conformity  of  accountable  mail  viz.  Speed  Post  (including  parcels)  and  Registered  Post (including  parcels)  and  Business  Parcels  to  the  prescribed  delivery  norms  is  monitored  through  a performance  dashboard  under  which  various  Key  Performance  Indicators  (KPIs)  are  regularly evaluated. As a part of the monitoring mechanism, monthly video conferences are held with the field units for evaluation of end to end mail operations including delivery at the post office level.  Delivery and transmission of unregistered/ordinary mail is monitored through posting of test letters and regular visits to mail offices and delivery post offices. Barcodes for ordinary mail bags have been introduced for bag level tracking as a measure of improvement in transmission.  Direct available flights are being used from one mail processing hub to another to ensure expedited transmission and delivery of all categories of mail. Further, Nodal Mechanized Delivery Centres (NDCs) have been operationalised in the  country  for  mechanized  delivery  of  Speed  Post  parcels.  Department  has  also  set  up  semi-

automated parcel centres enabling mechanized sorting of parcels (including Speed Post parcels)  to expedite processing and delivery.

- (b) Does not arise in view of above.

(c) Bringing improvement in the quality of mail delivery is a continuous activity. Apart from the steps  taken  by  the  Department  as  mentioned  in  (a)  above,  Department  has  also  restructured  the operational  network  for  various  categories  of  mail  as  part  of  Mail  Network  Optimization  Project (MNOP). Under MNOP, the Department has optimized the network for Speed Post, Registered and unregistered mail to ensure faster processing, transmission and delivery. Recently, Parcel Network of the Department has also been optimized as part of Parcel Network Optimisation Project (PNOP) with the aim of improving processing, transmission and delivery of parcels.

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