(a) whether the speed post services rendered by the Department of Posts are indulging in unfair trade practices and not delivering the articles within the stipulated period;
(b) if so, whether any inquiry on the functioning of Speed Posts have been conducted by the Government;
(c) if so, the facts and details thereof; and
(d) the steps taken by the Government to tone up the functioning of Speed Posts?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS (SHRI TAPAN SIKDAR)
(a) Speed Post articles are generally delivered in accordance with the delivery norms fixed in this regard by the Department. However, there are occasions when such articles are not delivered within the norms on account of failure of transport or human failure. In such cases speed post charges are refunded in full by the Department to the sender.
(b) In an internal enquiry into late delivery of Speed Post articles, Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission held that the Department of Posts did not fulfill its obligation of delivering two Speed Post articles in stipulated time and therefore, the services were not satisfactory.
(c) The facts of the case are that two Speed Post articles no. 3882 and 3883 booked on 08/10/1994 from Haus Khas Post Office and destined for Siliguri and Gangtok were not delivered within delivery norms. The Speed Post charges of Rs. 31/- and Rs. 56/- for these two articles were not refunded to the sender due to late delivery. The sender also informed the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission that she did not wish to pursue the matter having received the refund of Speed Post charges. The Commission, however, investigated the matter and directed that the Department of Posts should not indulge in unfair trade practice by not making the customer aware of terms and conditions of acceptance of letter/articles and by not delivering them within the stipulated time.
(d) The Department of Posts has already taken the following steps to tone up the functioning of the Speed Post Services:-
i) Delivery through dedicated staff ii) Mechanisation of delivery iii) Free Pick-up service from the customers premises iv) Computerisation of booking and delivery v) Introduction of track and Trace System vi) Monitoring of quality.