Question : SPEED POST

(a) whether the Government proposes to abolish ordinary mail altogether and revive speed post service by reducing tariffs/ exempt it from service tax for local/non-local delivery;

(b) if so, the details thereof along with the number of speed post offices in the country, State-wise and location-wise;

(c) whether the Government proposes to use this facility to connect rural areas;

(d) if so, the details thereof and the rural areas which still do not have speed post facility; and

(e) the steps taken by the Government in this regard?

THE MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

(a) No Madam. The Government does not propose to abolish ordinary mail. There is also no proposal for reducing the Speed Post tariff/exempt it from service tax for local/non- local delivery.

(b) The information of number of Speed Post booking offices in the country, state- wise and location-wise is enclosed as Annexure-A

(c) to (e) At present, Speed Post booking is available in 42937 offices in rural area and 13593 offices in urban area in the country. The delivery facility of Speed Post is available across the country. The network of Speed Post booking facility is extended taking into account the customer needs, potential business and availability of connectivity etc.