Introduction of new premium product 48 SPEED POST.pdf
Standard Operating Procedure for Booking, processing, transmission, Delivery and monitoring of “48 SPEED POST”
1. Introduction:
1.1 In the present changing Courier Express Parcel (CEP) market, the document/parcel segment is keeps evolving with changing customer’s needs & expectations and creates new opportunity for India Post through offering of new product/services to meet the customer’s expectation.
1.2 In this context, as per the market analysis, it has been observed that there is a significant demand from various stakeholders i.e. primarily from BFSI sector, to introduce a guaranteed Product under Document category with money back guarantee, in case delivery is not made within the committed period. Accordingly, the Department has designed a premium document Product with guaranteed delivery in next two day (between Metro cities) which other courier players in the market i.e. Orange Dart, DTDC, Express Bee are already offering to their customers but DoP has no presence. The existing Speed Post service offers delivery services to the customers in day range only, not the definite day for delivery of the article.
1.3 The new premium product “48 SPEED POST” has been developed by the Department to cater to this premium segment. The new premium product will offer the delivery services to the bulk/corporate and retail customers within the definite day i.e. D+2 in case of delivery between identified metro cities. This product will not only help the Department in offering improved targeted delivery services to the customers especially bulk/corporate customers but will also help the Department in increasing the market share. Besides the commitment of delivery within the committed day, the product also offers compensations for delayed delivery. Additionally, OTP based delivery services are offered to the customers as a bundled service as a part of this premium product, i.e. separate charge for the OTP based delivery services will not be charged from the customers.
2. Availability:
2.1 The “48 SPEED POST” product will be available for booking and delivery in identified origin destination pair cities. In the first Phase, the services will be available between six Metro cities – Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad which may be subsequently expanded to other metro cities.
2.2 Booking: The booking facility for this product will be available from all the TD post offices in the identified Six metro cities. The cut off time for booking for the “48 SPEED POST” product will remain same as the counter working hours of the identified Post offices.
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2.3 Delivery: The delivery of this product will be effected through the selected Delivery POs/Delivery Centres in the identified destination city where the delivery will be effected by the delivery staff on priority. List of such identified delivery POs/PIN codes for Metro cities is attached.
2.4 The ‘48 SPEED POST’ product will be available to the bulk/retail customers as a value-added service for which customer will have to pay the additional tariff as mentioned below:
Weight/Distance | Local upto 200 Kms. | 201 to 500 Kms. | 501 to 1000 Kms. | 1001 to 2000 Kms. | Above 2000 Kms. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Up to 50 grams | 25 | 61 | 61 | 61 | 61 | 61 |
| 51 grams to 250 grams | 31 | 77 | 82 | 88 | 94 | 100 |
| 251 grams to 500 grams | 36 | 91 | 98 | 107 | 112 | 121 |
*GST extra as applicable
3. This product will be offered to the bulk/retail customers with following built in Features:
▪ The product will be offered with a guaranteed delivery SLAs i.e. D+2 for booking and delivery between identified six metro cities (‘D’ means the day of booking of the article),
▪ The ‘48 SPEED POST’ product will be accorded priority at each stage of handling i.e. booking, processing, transmission and delivery,
▪ It will be offered with end-to-end visibility from booking to delivery,
▪ OTP based delivery will be offered as a bundled service to the customer i.e. no separate charge will be taken from the customers. However, other value-added services like registration, insurance, e-POD etc. would be available on payment of specified charges for these add-on services,
▪ All Benefits of BNPL Scheme for Speed Post Document will be available to the Bulk Corporate customers of the ‘48 SPEED POST’ product:
o Credit facility under Book Now Pay Later (BNPL) scheme.
o Free Pick-up facility for bulk customers.
o Volume based discount facility at par with Speed Post (Document) by combining the total revenue of both Speed Post (Document) and “48 SPEED POST”.
o Additional discount on advance payment.
o National Account facility for centralized billing for bulk customers. ▪ Real time data exchange functionality through APIs
▪ SMS alerts to sender/addressee of the articles for identified events,
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▪ Compensation: in the event of delay, full postage amount would be refunded to the customer on receipt of such a claim.
4. Mapping of Booking Post offices and Delivery Post offices/Pincodes
4.1 Concerned circles will ensure the mapping of all the Booking Post Offices at the identified cities in the system to enable them to undertake the booking of the ‘48 SPEED POST’ article. Besides, identified BPC/BNPL Centers and franchisees may also be enabled for the booking of the ‘48 SPEED POST’ articles from the bulk/corporate customers.
4.2 Concerned circles will ensure the mapping of identified Delivery post offices/Pincodes in the system so that booking of this premium product may be restricted to the identified Delivery Post offices/pincodes only.
4.3 Accordingly, system will only allow the booking & delivery of the ‘48 SPEED POST’ articles between the identified booking Post office/BPC/BNPL Centers and franchisees and Delivery Post office. Besides, system will not allow the booking of such articles for the delivery Post offices which has not been identified.
5. Handling of the ‘48 SPEED POST’ articles:
(A) Booking
a. Booking services for the ‘48 SPEED POST’ articles will be available at all Post Offices/BPC/BNPL Centers of the Metro cities initially as well as through Franchisee outlets functioning in these cities.
b. Booking facility will be available during the normal prescribed counter hours for the identified post office.
c. BPC/BNPL Centres can undertake the booking of articles of Bulk/corporate customers as per their prescribed business hours.
d. This product will be available for booking on payment of additional premium tariff, as prescribed under Speed Post Category.
e. All relevant information/pamphlet to be displayed at the counter and at the notice board of the Post Office/Booking Office.
f. Separate Bin/Tray near booking desk should be made available for segregating the ‘48 SPEED POST’ articles for priority processing.
g. The counter assistant will ensure that the article tendered for booking carrying delivery address pertaining to the local TD Pin codes identified for the destination city. List of identified delivery pin codes of each city are enclosed as Annexure I to V.
h. Product category in bold capital letters should be reflected in the article label generated at the counter. Specific barcode for the ‘48 SPEED POST’ product will be auto generated through the system. Bulk customers will be provided barcode series in advance by the circles.
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i. Priority Sticker for ‘48 SPEED POST’ shall be affixed on the blank space at front side of the article during the retail booking however bulk customers may be requested to get the priority sticker design printed on the envelope.
j. Value added services like registration, insurance, e-POD etc. would be available on the payment of prescribed charges for these add-on services and OTP based delivery service if opted, shall be complementary.
k. The counter assistant will also ensure that each article bears the complete and accurate delivery address including mobile number of sender and addressee except the exemption categories allowed to provide mobile number. The counter Assistant will also ensure that the Biller ID and BNPL Code is printed on each consignment in case of bulk/corporate customers.
l. Bulk customers will provide the soft copy of the booking data (in the prescribed format) to DoP booking staff and ensure that the soft booking data matches the address written on each consignment.
m. SMS alerts will be sent at the time of Booking, Receipt at destination hubs, Out-for-Delivery, Delivery to the addressee, and in the event of delay (in case there is any delay beyond the committed date/time). To facilitate these SMS, it is mandatory for booking PA to capture mobile number of the addressee and sender for all the articles except for the addressee and sender which have been exempted.
n. Staff at booking PO or BPC/BNPL Centre will ensure that all prescribed scans for these articles are captured in the system.
(B) Bagging, processing and Sorting Pattern
(i) Bagging Pattern: -
a. The colour of ‘48 SPEED POST’ bag will be orange for clear identification.
b. Booking offices (Post Offices) of origin identified City will close one Separate ‘48 SPEED POST’ bag consisting articles including TD articles booked under ‘48 SPEED POST’ and send it to the origin NSH.
c. Post Offices/BPCs having direct bagging facility will close separate ‘48 SPEED POST’ bags for each city including TD articles (of origin city) and send it to the respective APTMO / Origin NSH (in case of TD articles booked under ‘48 SPEED POST’).
d. All bags dispatched from the booking Post Offices must reach the origin NSH by 8 PM.
e. BNPL/BPCs having direct bagging facility will also close the ‘48 SPEED POST’ bags (For articles booked before 12.00 AM) to the
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APTMO before 6 AM sharply so that it must be connected to destination cities flights after 9 AM in the morning.
(ii) Processing & Sorting at Origin NSH
a. Separate area in NSH may be identified for sorting of “48 SPEED POST” bags and articles.
b. All “48 SPEED POST” articles, closed in a specially designed Orange colour bag, will be segregated once it reaches the origin Hub. c. City wise priority sorting would be done immediately with exclusive set of sorting staff. TD articles will be closed in a separate bag delivery office wise and get it connected to the concerned delivery office through the scheduled morning MMS.
d. After Sorting, city wise “48 SPEED POST” bags will be closed and transfer to the TMO by 6 AM.
e. All “48 SPEED POST” Bags must be connected to destination city by air till 9 AM. Circles should identify the suitable flights through which all “48 SPEED POST” bags must be connected at the earliest but not later than 9 AM on the next day of booking date.
f. To connect the earliest available flight, TMO must handover all the “48 SPEED POST” bags through special vehicle at the cargo place of airlines at least 3 hrs. before the scheduled departure of identified flight, under proper receipt and track the same till its final loading in the earliest
flight.
g. The dispatch particulars and movement of bags will flow in the system through API integration with Airlines. DOP system will also update the bag’s dispatch status as updated by the Airlines in their system.
h. In case of any offloading noticed, the bags must be dispatched through the next available flight, operated by same or different airlines.
(iii) Processing & Sorting at the Destination Hub: -
a. An alert of “48 SPEED POST” bags arrival from the origin cities will be sent to the destination hubs/TMO through the system.
b. On getting the alerts from origin hub or through the events shared by Airlines, the destination airport TMO will make prior arrangement for receiving of these bags from the airlines on priority.
c. Destination TMO must ensure the collection of the “48 SPEED POST” bags within 2 hours of arrival of the flight.
d. Special vehicle with necessary manpower should be deployed at the airlines cargo facility to receive the bags at the earliest.
e. TMO will hand over the “48 SPEED POST” bags to the destination hub (NSH) immediately once it is received.
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f. Processing hub will perform detailed sorting of all “48 SPEED POST” articles delivery Post Office wise on priority in a separate area identified for sorting of “48 SPEED POST” bags and articles.
g. All sorted “48 SPEED POST” articles will be closed in separate bag with Orange Colour Bag Label for each delivery PO.
h. “48 SPEED POST” bags must be connected to the morning MMS schedule for delivery without fail.
(iv) Sorting staff will ensure the proper reconciliation of the total consignments received and total consignment dispatched. Any discrepancy in receipt/dispatch of “48 SPEED POST” bags will be immediately raised with the Circle / Divisional MMU team through the concerned supervisor after entering in the Error Report.
(C) Airline Bag Handover Protocol
The origin APTMO must ensure that bags are handed over to the designated airlines well within the time limit prescribed in airlines contract. Similarly, destination TMO must ensure timely receipt from airlines. Any deviation should be reported immediately to Circle Authorities for escalation with the concerned airline management/Postal Directorate. The dispatch particulars and movement of bags as updated by Airlines in their system must also be updated in the DOP system.
(D) Delivery
a. Delivery PO staff must open the “48 SPEED POST” bags bearing the Orange Colour Bag Label, on priority.
b. All the “48 SPEED POST” articles after beat wise sorting should be invoiced separately to the postman concerned immediately on receipt of “48 SPEED POST” articles i.e. a separate delivery manifest should be issued for executing its prompt and priority delivery.
c. Delivery staff will call the addressee over his mobile number and confirm his/her availability at the address for delivery. Delivery staff will make all possible efforts to deliver the article at the earliest and update the delivery status on the Internal Mobile App (IMA) at the doorstep of the addressee itself so that it may be updated on the real time.
d. If any article is not delivered to the addressee due to any reason, then the undelivered article will be brought back to the delivery post office by the delivery staff and the supervisor will confirm the genuineness of the undelivered remarks by calling the sender/addressee and take necessary action for performing the delivery on the same day. In case, the addressee is not available at the given address at the time of delivery, same will also be communicated to the addressee through an SMS.
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b) If need arise, second delivery or delivery on Sundays/Holidays (except National Holidays) can also be arranged in order to execute the delivery within the committed time.
6. Role of Mail Motor Service (MMS):-
The MMS incharge will be responsible for timely availability of scheduled vehicle at the Post Offices, NSH without fail. In case of exigencies, immediate alternate arrangement should be made to meet the timeline for connecting “48 SPEED POST” bags to the concerned NSH or to the delivery PO.
7. Role of supervisor at Booking Office/Origin Hub/Destination Hub/ Delivery Office:-
“48 SPEED POST” Product is a premium product and require strict adherence to the prescribed timelines. All steps are aligned with specific timelines to ensure delivery within two days from the date of booking. Therefore, in case of exigencies, all possible efforts need to be made to adhere the timelines without any excuse. For example, if the MMS schedule is stuck in the traffic jam and there is a very little possibility of MMS connecting the bags as per prescribed cut-off time, then the supervisor at booking office will make immediate alternate arrangement for sending the “48 SPEED POST” bags to the concerned NSH within the stipulated timeline.
8. Incentive
8.1 “48 SPEED POST” Products being launched as a premium category product and needs special efforts from booking staff for converting the normal customers as “48 SPEED POST” products customers. Besides, “48 SPEED POST” product need prompt handling from booking to processing to delivery, to ensure the delivery of the “48 SPEED POST” product within the committed SLAs. Accordingly, staff at Booking Office, processing hub and Delivery Office may be incentivized at the following rate:
Incentive to staff at Post Office for Retail booking:
i. Booking PA – Rs. 2/- per article,
ii. Supervisory Staff of Booking PA – Rs. 0.20/- per article to Supervisory staff of 48 SPEED POST booking counter to ensure adherence to the prescribed timeline for dealing with booked 48 SPEED POST articles.
B. Incentive to Staff at Bulk Booking Office:
i) Booking staff at Bulk Booking Office- Rs. 0.05/- per article to the booking staff who processed the booking & dispatched of premium products article of Bulk Booking customer within the prescribed time limit.
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(ii) Supervisory staff of Booking Assistant- 10% of the total incentive payable to all the subordinate booking staffs to adhere and supervising the prescribed timeline for dealing with booked premium products
C. Incentive at Processing Hubs :
(i) At Origin Processing Hub
For Sorting PA: - Rs. 0.25 per 48 SPEED POST article among staff engaged in sorting of such Articles,
For Supervisor: - Rs. 0.05 per 48 SPEED POST article to ensure adherence to the prescribed timeline for processing of 48 SPEED POST articles.
(ii) At Destination Processing Hub: -
For Sorting PA: - Rs. 0.25 per 48 SPEED POST article among staff engaged in sorting of such Articles,
For Supervisor: - Rs. 0.05 per 48 SPEED POST article to ensure adherence to the prescribed timeline for processing of 48 SPEED POST articles.
*All incentive amount should be equally distributed among the staff involved from bag handling to dispatch of 48 SPEED POST bags including Supervisor, Sorting PA, MTS etc.
D. Incentive at Delivery Post Office
(i) Delivery staff-- Rs. 2/- per 48 SPEED POST article to the delivery official for successful delivery of each 48 SPEED POST article within timeline,
(ii) Supervisor/Delivery PA involved in handing over 48 SPEED POST articles to delivery staff- Rs. 0.20/- per 48 SPEED POST article.
8.2 Incentive Payment method: -
Incentive to the DOP staff engaged in booking, processing and delivery as indicated in Para 8.1 above will be Paid from available funds under the relevant budget head of accounts.
9. Required KPIs for “48 SPEED POST” is as below:
Sr. No. | Report Name |
|---|---|
1 | No. of "48 SPEED POST" articles booked (MoM growth) |
2 | Key Accounts wise (Volume and growth) |
3 | No. of new bulk accounts onboarded |
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4 No. of leads generated
5 | % of "48 SPEED POST" bookings in retail |
|---|---|
6 | % of "48 SPEED POST" bookings in bulk |
7 | % of articles delivered in D+2 (or within SLA) |
8 9 | % of articles attempted in D+2 (or within SLA) Lane-wise % of articles delivered in D+2 (origin) |
10 | Lane-wise % of articles delivered in D+2 (delivery) |
11 | Summary of standard remarks for undelivered articles |
12 | Lane-wise total mid-mile transit time |
13 | % of articles dispatched for destination NSH before 10 AM on D+1 |
14 | % of articles received at TMO-D before 8 PM on D+1 |
15 | % of articles dispatched for delivery office/IDC before D+2 morning |
16 | % of articles missorted at hub |
17 | % of articles missent at origin |
18 | % of articles dispatched for NSH-O same day before XX PM |
19 | No. of "48 SPEED POST" grievances overall |
20 | % of "48 SPEED POST" grievances accepted |
21 | % of "48 SPEED POST" grievances rejected |
22 | Average time taken to resolve "48 SPEED POST" grievances |
23 | No. of "48 SPEED POST" grievances overall resolved within 7 days |
24 | Overall grievances sorted by Standard Remark |
25 | Total "48 SPEED POST" compensation amount paid out |
26 | Customer satisfaction score |
10.Compensation Policy:
To ensure customer satisfaction and uphold service commitments under the Day Definite Delivery (‘48 SPEED POST’) product- ‘48 SPEED POST’, a fair, timely, and transparent compensation policy has been devised in cases of non-fulfilment of guaranteed delivery terms.
10.1 Eligibility for Compensation: Customers shall be eligible for compensation in the following cases:
a. Delay in delivery
b. Loss of article
c. Pilferage or partial loss of contents
d. Physical damage to the contents
10.2 Compensation Amount: The compensation payable shall be the Speed Post charges in case of delay in delivery and in case of Loss of article, pilferage or damage, Double the Speed Post charges or INR. 1000 whichever is less.
10.3 Claim Filing Procedure: Customers (Sender of the article) may file claims through online either on India Post customer portal or mobile app. In case of non-availability of digital access, customer can submit a physical form at office of booking or office of delivery. Claim must be filed within 7 calendar days from the committed delivery date. Claims beyond this period shall be rejected automatically by the system.
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10.4 Claim Resolution: All valid claims will be processed and resolved within 7 working days from the date of submission. As soon as the claim received, an acknowledgement message should be sent to claimant on his/her registered mobile. Claim should simultaneously flow to office of delivery and other office of handling in backward journey to ascertain the reasons for delay if falls under exclusion categories mentioned below. If not, then claim should be sanctioned in favour of claimant without awaiting any departmental inquiry to fix the responsibility for delay. Payment, if approved, will be made directly to the claimant’s bank account as shared by the claimant. If claim is rejected due to any specific reason, same will be informed to customer through SMS.
10.5 Required Documents: Customer need to submit following documents to prefer claim: a. System-generated booking receipt or tracking number
b. Compensation claim form (Annexure A)
c. Copy of ID proof & Copy of customer receipt (for manual filing)
10.6 Communications to Customers:
The compensation module shall ensure transparency by sending automatic SMS/e mail alerts to the claimant to keep customer informed about the status of claim at following stage of claim processing:
a). Acknowledgement of claim,
b). Verification of claim
c). Approval or Rejection of claim
d). Payment made into the account of customer
10.7 Exclusion: Every effort will be made to deliver the article within the committed timeline. However, no compensation shall be paid in the following cases: -
a. Incorrect/incomplete address or non-availability of recipient
b. Force majeure events (natural calamities, political disturbances, curfew etc.) c. Article intercepted/delayed due to law enforcement or statutory compliance d. Booking made outside the designated PIN codes or after cut-off time
e. If there are prohibited items or those booked with false/wrong declaration of contents in case of parcels. Further, delivery holidays at the destination and non-compliance of prescribed cut-off times for booking shall not count towards delay.
10.8 Claim Sanctioning & Appellate Authority: Sanctioning Authority and Appellate Authority are defined as under:
| Sl No. | Type Of booking office | Claim Sanctioning Authority | Appellate Authority |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | SO/HO/BPC/RMS Counters/other offices (Non gazetted Postmaster/In charge) | Concerned Divisional Head (SSPOs/SSRM/SPOs/SRM) | DPS (HQ)/DPS (Region) |
| 2. | HO/GPO/BPC/ RMS Booking Office (Gazetted) | Sr.PM/In-charge/CPM/ Director | Divisional Head / DPS (HQ)/DPS (Region)/ |
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Next senior to Director
GPO
Appeals should be settled within 15 working days by the concerned Appellate Authority to provide speedy redressal.
10.9. Technology: - CEPT shall develop an automated compensation module for the Day Definite Delivery (‘48 SPEED POST’) product- ‘48 SPEED POST’ that allows customers to file claims and enables backend staff to verify and process compensation in a time-bound manner.
a. The module shall ensure transparency by sending automatic SMS/e-mail alerts to the claimant and also keep updating on following stage of claim processing:
i. Acknowledgement of claim,
ii. Verification of claim
iii. Approval or Rejection of claim
iv. Payment made into the account of customer
b. CEPT shall bring an interface, which shall be accessible via India Post Customer Portal or External Mobile App. Customer details will be auto populated on entering the article number. System shall auto fetch booking and delivery data. Thereafter system will check the delivery date against the committed date. After due verification of the due date, request will auto route to the designated claim sanctioning authority for approval. On approval, payment will be made without delay.
c. Appeal Procedure: In case the claim is rejected by the competent authority, the customer/applicant should have the option to go for appeal if he is not satisfied with the reasons mentioned for rejection. The option for filing appeal should be made available in the online solution while viewing the status of original application number. Once appeal is filed, the same will go to the concerned appellate authority who should decide the appeal within 15 days of its filing.
d. MIS and Monitoring: CEPT shall provide a facility for generating monthly MIS reports on the following
i. No of claims filed
ii. No of claims accepted/rejected (within 7 days/beyond 7 days)
iii. No of claims pending
iv. Average time taken for settlement of claims
v. Total amounts paid as compensation
These reports should be made available upto Division level for the users of Division, Region, Circle and Directorate.
10.10. Accounting procedure: As soon as the claim is found genuine and approved by the competent authority, the compensation amount will be required to be paid to the customer automatically/electronically in the bank account given by the customer. The compensation amount will be paid from the revenue head (Account Code- 1201011900).
10.11. If the customer has already availed the facility of insurance, the claim shall be governed by the terms of the insurance policy rather than ‘48 SPEED POST’ compensation policy.
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10.12. All compensation payment authority shall ensure that compensation should be processes and paid without delay. Responsibility for delay, loss, or damage will be separately examined through internal administrative procedures. Payment to the customer shall not be held up pending such enquiries.
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Annexure A:
Compensation Claim Form- ‘48 SPEED POST’ Product
Sl No. | Details to be provided | |
|---|---|---|
1 | Article / Barcode No.* | |
2 | Date of Booking | |
3 | Committed Delivery Date | |
4 | Actual Delivery Date | |
5 | Type of Issue (Delay / Loss / Damage / Pilferage)* | |
6 | Description (if any)* | |
7 | Name & Address of Sender | |
8 | Mobile Number of Sender | |
9 | Name & Address of Receiver | |
10 | Mobile Number of Receiver | |
11 | Email ID (optional) | |
12 | Bank A/C * | |
13 | Documents Attached (in case of physical submission of claim viz copy of customer receipt, ID proof etc.)* | |
14 | Any other information… |
* Mandatory Information: must be filled by the customer and remaining information will be auto fetched.
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Annexure- II
Checklist for finalization of following activities as per the timeline.
Sl No | Description | Due Date |
|---|---|---|
1 | Operational booking office and pin codes for “48 SPEED POST” | 25-12-25 |
2 | Booking cut off timings | 25-12-25 |
3 | Specific Flights | 25-12-25 |
4 | Availability of thermal printers for new label printing | 15-01-26 |
5 | Rationalised MMS schedules | 15-01-26 |
6 | Second delivery coverage of pin codes | 15-01-26 |
7 | Identify staff for Xray training at TMO | 25-12-25 |
8 | Action plan on training ground staff | 25-12-25 |
9 | Completion of training of Ground Staff | 05-01-26 |
10 | Marketing plan for retail and bulk customers (Marketing to start 10 days before launch) | 05-01-26 |
