Lok Sabha Question No. 3659 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-01-02
Subject: Complaints of Loss of Articles and Delay in Delivery
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: BHARTRUHARI MAHTAB, SANJAY SHAMRAO DHOTRE, RAHUL RAMESH SHEWALE

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF POSTS

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.3659 TO BE ANSWERED ON 2 ND  JANUARY, 2019

## COMPLAINTS OF LOSS OF ARTICLES AND DELAY IN DELIVERY

3659.  SHRI BHARTRUHARI MAHTAB:

SHRI SANJAY DHOTRE:

SHRI RAHUL SHEWALE:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  complaints  of  loss  of  articles  and  delay  in  delivery  sent  by  post  have increased in the country;
- (b) if so, the details thereof including the number of such complaints received during each of the last three years and the current year, State/UT-wise and the reasons therefor;
- (c) the  policy  of  the  Department  of  Posts  to  compensate  the  losses  to  the  customer  on account of lost of articles;
- (d) whether the Government has conducted any training programmes to improve behaviour and working skill of staff of Post offices in the country during the said period; and
- (e) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

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

(a) and (b) The number of complaints regarding  loss of articles and delay in delivery  sent by post in the country has shown an increase when considered over the last  three years. However, between the years 2016-17 and 2017-18, there was a decline in the number of such complaints.

The details of such complaints i.e. loss of articles and delay in delivery received during each of the last three  years and the current year, State/UT-wise is as per Annexures- I & II.

The increase in the complaints on loss of articles and delay in their delivery is due to the rise in the  awareness  among  the  customers  as  the  Department  has  made  the  grievance  redressal  system robust by reaching out to them by taking the following measures :

- (i) Providing the facility of lodging grievances through their phones by rolling out India Post Call Centre.
- (ii) Introducing  trackability    of  complaints  on  the  mobile    App  of  the  Department,  i.e., Postinfo App. Till date this App has been downloaded by 1.9 million users.
- (iii) Facilitating lodging of grievances from their desktops using Social Media i.e. Twitter(@indiapostoffice) and Facebook.
- (iv) Facilitating  online  lodging  of  grievances  on  CPGRAMS(  Centralized  Public  Grievance Redress & Monitoring System).

(c) The policy of the Department of Posts to compensate losses to the customers on account of lost articles is as follows for different categories of articles :

| Product                              | Compensation Policy                                                                                                                                                                                                      |
|--------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Speed Post                           | In the event of the loss of inland Speed Post article or loss of its contents or damage to the contents, compensation shall be double the amount of Speed Post charges paid or one thousand rupees, whichever is less.   |
| Express Parcel                       | In case of the loss or damage of the Express Parcel or contents thereof, the compensation payable shall be restricted to one thousand rupees or the actual value of the parcel or the content lost, which ever is less.  |
| Business Parcel                      | In case of the loss or damage of the Business Parcel or contents thereof, the compensation payable shall be restricted to five hundred rupees or the actual value of the parcel or the content lost, which ever is less. |
| Registered articles                  | Compensation upto a limit of Rs 100/- for loss of articles as an act of grace and not in consequence of any legal liability.                                                                                             |
| Insured articles                     | Compensation not exceeding the amount for which the article has been insured.                                                                                                                                            |
| International Registered articles    | For loss/total theft/total damage of International Registered article - 30 SDR( at prevailing rates) shall be payable.                                                                                                   |
| International EMS Merchandise        | Sum of postage paid and declared value of the content subject to upper ceiling of 30 SDR (at prevailing rates) per item shall be payable.                                                                                |
| International EMS Document           | Postage paid subject to upper ceiling of 30 SDR (at prevailing rates) per item shall be payable.                                                                                                                         |
| International Air Parcels            | For loss/total theft/ total damage - Up to 40 SDR (at prevailing rates) per parcel and 4.50 SDR(at prevailing rates) per Kg shall be payable.                                                                            |
| International tracked Packet Service | The Compensation payable shall be restricted to Rs 1,000/- or the actual value of the contents damaged or lost, whichever is less.                                                                                       |
| Unregistered Articles                | No Compensation will be payable.                                                                                                                                                                                         |

(d)  and (e) Yes  Madam,  the  Government  has  conducted  training  programmes  to  improve behaviour  and  working  skill  of  the  staff  of  Post  Offices  in  the  country.  The  details  are  at Annexure III.

| Sl No.   | State                                | Received in 2015-16   | Received in 2016-17   | Received in 2017-18   | Received from April 2018 upto September 2018   |
|----------|--------------------------------------|-----------------------|-----------------------|-----------------------|------------------------------------------------|
| 1        | Andhra Pradesh                       | 865                   | 765                   | 755                   | 209                                            |
| 2        | Arunachal Pradesh                    | 5                     | 8                     | 7                     | 3                                              |
| 3        | Assam                                | 303                   | 560                   | 808                   | 189                                            |
| 4        | Bihar                                | 0                     | 65                    | 112                   | 0                                              |
| 5        | Chhatisgarh                          | 620                   | 159                   | 72                    | 25                                             |
| 6        | Delhi                                | 1837                  | 2277                  | 9473                  | 3432                                           |
| 7        | Goa                                  | 2                     | 2                     | 0                     | 1                                              |
| 8        | Gujarat                              | 3349                  | 3024                  | 1495                  | 1233                                           |
| 9        | Haryana                              | 265                   | 5789                  | 2319                  | 199                                            |
| 10       | Himachal Pradesh                     | 70                    | 102                   | 111                   | 43                                             |
| 11       | J & K                                | 107                   | 268                   | 1112                  | 1107                                           |
| 12       | Jharkhand                            | 10                    | 7                     | 13                    | 4                                              |
| 13       | Karnataka                            | 1009                  | 588                   | 402                   | 266                                            |
| 14       | Kerala                               | 482                   | 215                   | 167                   | 29                                             |
| 15       | Madhya Pradesh                       | 1157                  | 1597                  | 1055                  | 965                                            |
| 16       | Maharashtra                          | 4523                  | 5231                  | 3217                  | 955                                            |
| 17       | Manipur                              | 114                   | 689                   | 795                   | 306                                            |
| 18       | Meghalaya                            | 3393                  | 5820                  | 2820                  | 1550                                           |
| 19       | Mizoram                              | 19                    | 14                    | 15                    | 18                                             |
| 20       | Nagaland                             | 120                   | 175                   | 254                   | 96                                             |
| 21       | Odisha                               | 65                    | 56                    | 497                   | 357                                            |
| 22       | Punjab                               | 61                    | 63                    | 87                    | 66                                             |
| 23       | Rajasthan                            | 107                   | 218                   | 400                   | 187                                            |
| 24       | Sikkim                               | 8                     | 4                     | 6                     | 0                                              |
| 25       | Tamil Nadu                           | 1111                  | 1267                  | 1338                  | 822                                            |
| 26       | Telangana                            | 1389                  | 1483                  | 1157                  | 885                                            |
| 27       | Tripura                              | 104                   | 115                   | 123                   | 105                                            |
| 28       | Uttar Pradesh                        | 3318                  | 3522                  | 3596                  | 9183                                           |
| 29       | Uttarakhand                          | 4223                  | 3442                  | 3346                  | 1292                                           |
| 30       | West Bengal                          | 288                   | 368                   | 355                   | 661                                            |
| UT       | UT                                   | UT                    | UT                    | UT                    | UT                                             |
| 1        | Andaman & Nicobar Islands            | 0                     | 0                     | 0                     | 0                                              |
| 2        | Chandigarh                           | 3                     | 9                     | 8                     | 2                                              |
| 3        | Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli | 0                     | 1                     | 0                     | 0                                              |
| 4        | Lakshadweep                          | 0                     | 0                     | 0                     | 0                                              |
| 5        | Puducherry                           | 1                     | 1                     | 1                     | 1                                              |
|          | Total                                | 28928                 | 37904                 | 35916                 | 24191                                          |

|        | Annexure-II                          | Annexure-II         | Annexure-II         | Annexure-II         | Annexure-II                                  |
|--------|--------------------------------------|---------------------|---------------------|---------------------|----------------------------------------------|
| Sl No. | State                                | Received in 2015-16 | Received in 2016-17 | Received in 2017-18 | Received from April 2018 upto September 2018 |
| 1      | Andhra Pradesh                       | 13331               | 8798                | 12063               | 10472                                        |
| 2      | Arunachal Pradesh                    | 98                  | 101                 | 108                 | 54                                           |
| 3      | Assam                                | 15673               | 28911               | 64918               | 40028                                        |
| 4      | Bihar                                | 7701                | 17763               | 15692               | 3840                                         |
| 5      | Chhatisgarh                          | 9722                | 14641               | 15104               | 14132                                        |
| 6      | Delhi                                | 43533               | 45109               | 35038               | 30421                                        |
| 7      | Goa                                  | 232                 | 269                 | 331                 | 112                                          |
| 8      | Gujarat                              | 57462               | 104847              | 45050               | 23320                                        |
| 9      | Haryana                              | 126638              | 128537              | 73926               | 28123                                        |
| 10     | Himachal Pradesh                     | 6807                | 4607                | 5051                | 3122                                         |
| 11     | Jammu and Kashmir                    | 433                 | 469                 | 1333                | 682                                          |
| 12     | Jharkhand                            | 2131                | 2032                | 2136                | 1260                                         |
| 13     | Karnataka                            | 11118               | 14203               | 22097               | 28244                                        |
| 14     | Kerala                               | 11404               | 21705               | 38441               | 40260                                        |
| 15     | Madhya Pradesh                       | 9691                | 11367               | 11457               | 7412                                         |
| 16     | Maharashtra                          | 78253               | 74330               | 94618               | 161656                                       |
| 17     | Manipur                              | 750                 | 1335                | 2317                | 989                                          |
| 18     | Meghalaya                            | 2991                | 4118                | 1837                | 969                                          |
| 19     | Mizoram                              | 174                 | 183                 | 192                 | 199                                          |
| 20     | Nagaland                             | 581                 | 892                 | 1158                | 2169                                         |
| 21     | Odisha                               | 19282               | 22803               | 21819               | 24685                                        |
| 22     | Punjab                               | 5089                | 5909                | 7681                | 6029                                         |
| 23     | Rajasthan                            | 3491                | 4620                | 5133                | 3693                                         |
| 24     | Sikkim                               | 330                 | 351                 | 512                 | 166                                          |
| 25     | Tamil Nadu                           | 13469               | 15112               | 24001               | 27753                                        |
| 26     | Telangana                            | 6613                | 10097               | 6265                | 6214                                         |
| 27     | Tripura                              | 1061                | 1138                | 1007                | 1036                                         |
| 28     | Uttar Pradesh                        | 21619               | 31486               | 25315               | 31989                                        |
| 29     | Uttarakhand                          | 3297                | 2981                | 4733                | 2748                                         |
| 30     | West Bengal                          | 21276               | 20019               | 25354               | 20610                                        |
| UT     | UT                                   | UT                  | UT                  | UT                  | UT                                           |
| 1      | Andaman & Nicobar Islands            | 1281                | 2442                | 1582                | 1656                                         |
| 2      | Chandigarh                           | 1                   | 2                   | 2                   | 0                                            |
| 3      | Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli | 34                  | 42                  | 0                   | 0                                            |
| 4      | Lakshadweep                          | 0                   | 0                   | 4                   | 6                                            |
| 5      | Puducherry                           | 112                 | 102                 | 117                 | 84                                           |
|        | Total                                | 495678              | 601321              | 566392              | 524133                                       |

## Training programmes conducted to improve behaviour and working skill of staff of Post offices in the country from 2015-16 to 2018-19(up to September 2018)

| Year                        |   Total Number of officials/officers trained |
|-----------------------------|----------------------------------------------|
| 2015-16                     |                                        80572 |
| 2016-17                     |                                       101428 |
| 2017-18                     |                                       107331 |
| 2018-19(upto September 2018 |                                        75612 |
| Total                       |                                       364943 |

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