R1 mr final

Acknowledgement

This research has been accomplished with the contributions and encouragements from many
people. I would like to express my gratitude to all supports. Without these supports I would
have had a tough time.

Firstly, big thanks are addressed to my thesis advisor Prof. Vijay Kapoor, FMS, Delhi
University. His knowledge and helps has really been useful while making this thesis.
Further, his kind encouragements and patience in providing valuable comments and
recommendations on the beginning draft. Without him, this research would not have been
successfully carried out.

The deep appreciations are also addressed towards all the people who had read and gave
the information and advice that have made this thesis possible.

Finally I would like to thanks to all the people who had answered to my questionnaire.

Indian Postal Service Vs Private Courier Service 1|P a g e

Executive Summary

The British East India Company first established post office in Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata
from 1764-1766, during Warne Hasting’s Governorship, postal service was made available
to the general public. A letter would cost 2 annas (one-eighth of a Rupee) for distances up to
100 miles. Payments would be done through copper tokens; a letter was hand stamped “post
paid” if paid for, otherwise it was stamped “post unpaid” or “bearing”.

In 1839, North West Province circle was formed and since then, new postal circles was
formed needed. In December 1860 Punjab Circle, in 1861 Burma Circle, in 1866+ Central
Province Circle and in 1869 Sind Circle were formed. By 1880 Circles had been formed in
Oudh (1870), Rajputana (1871), Assam (1873), Bihar (1877), Eastern Bengal (1878) and
Central India (1879).

The usage of the stamps began on 1 July 1852 in Scinde/Sindh district, with the use of an
embossed pattern on paper or wax. The stamps were issued by the British East India
Company, which first printed a 1/2a vermilion in April.

The Department of posts functioning under the brand name India Post is government
operated postal system in India; is generally referred to within India as “The post office”.
The postal service, with 155,333 post offices, is the most widely distributed post office
system in the world. China is the next widely distributed post office system with 57000 post
offices. The Indian postal service is also involved in other services such as small savings
banking and financial services.

Vision Statement of India Post: “India Post will be a socially committed technology driven,
professionally managed & forward looking Organization”

Mission Statement of Indian post: “To provide high quality mail, parcel and related
services in India and throughout the world; to be recognized as an efficient and excellent
organization exceeding the expectations of the customers, employees and the society”.

Department of posts is committed to providing universal access to basic postal services in
the country at affordable prices. Its objectives are to:-

• Ensure availability of postal services in all parts of the country, including tribal, hilly
and remote areas.

• Provide efficient reliable and economic service.


• Provide value added services according to requirements.

• Modernize the services to handle the growing volume of work with efficiency and
thereby enhance customer and employee satisfaction.

• Be a forward looking organization and

• Generate more resources and improve financial performance.

The postal service comes under the department of posts which is a part of Ministry of
Communications and Information Technology under the Government of India. The three
members hold the portfolios of Operations & marketing, Infrastructure & Financial Services
and Personnel.

India has been divided into 22 postal services. Each circle is headed by Chief Postmaster
General. Each Circle is further divided into Regions comprising field units, called Divisions,
headed by a postmaster General.

The primary virtue of any postal/courier company in the world is its efficiency to render
services. The better the quality of service, the more the satisfied customers, better the
chances of survival. The industry is booming and market is cut-throat competitive. The
advancement of technology and internet has things slight easier and more competitive as
well.

Courier services in India can be segregated in few categories. Basically, it begins with intra-
city services which are about speedy delivery of mails and goods within the city. Broadening
the services, inter-city services are covered. Normally this is termed as surface cargo
services where short distance and bulk loads are handled. Surface mode service is
performed through two ways: firstly, on road (by bus or vehicle) and secondly on track (by
train) services. The products are normally delivered through door to door.

Courier/Postal service management is the part of the supply chain management, which
plans, implements and controls the efficient, effective, forward and backward flow, storage of
goods, services, and information between point to point and the point of consumption in
order to meet customer’s requirements.

The goal of courier/postal service work is to manage the function of projects life cycles,
supply chain and resultant efficiencies. It involves the generation of inventory, warehousing,
information, transportation, material handling and packaging. The operating challenges of


logistics is the geographical repositioning of raw materials, work in process and finished
inventories where required at the lowest cost possible.

In Indian postal/courier services industry, there are international markets in the sector of
global express services as well as domestic markets. Besides Indian Post, there are multiple
private organizations in the competition. The major domestic delivery network companies are
Blue Dart, DTDC, Overnite Couriers, First flight etc. The Focus of the project report is
Indian Postal Vs Pvt. Courier Services in the domestic sector.

The main objective of this project is to

• Study the performance of Indian postal services in comparison with the Private
Courier Competitors.

• To study the impact of postal/courier services on performance of other industry

• To study the postal/courier service cost associated in different industries.

• To study the transportation cost associated with different modes and their choice to
choose mode.

• To study the current scenario and Future Prospects of Indian postal/courier services
industry.

Each of these points has broadly discussed in this report. Each element has discussed in-
depth to understand the sector opportunities in detail. The details was covered include
overview of the element in Indian postal/courier services, importance of the element, market
analysis, market competition, stakeholders, end-user analysis, needs and future trend, rules,
and opportunities in the sector.

This project report is prepared mostly based on secondary data, from various sources of
books and journals of the researchers. Primary data is also collected directly from customers
based on questionnaire as well as interview with the Indian Post office and private
companies.


Table of Contents
Introduction……………………………………………………………………………….…………P-6

Research Hypothesis……………………………………………………………….……………...P-8

Research Methodology……………………………………………………………….…………....P-8

Primary data Collection………………………………………………………….….……………..P-8

Survey Data Collection………………………………………………………….…….…………...P-9

Steps followed while conducting Research……………………………………..…………...… P- 9

Developing Questionnaire…………………………………………………….……………….…P-10

Indian Postal Service

Network & Computerization……………………………………………………….……………..P-12

Type of Postal Service..…………………………………………………………………….….…P-13

Mail Service..…………………………………………………………………………………..…..P-13

Postage for Mail Service…………………………………………………………………….…...P-15

Banking Service………………………………………………………………….…………….….P-16

Insurance Service………………………………………………………………………...……….P-17

Private Courier Service..………………………………………………………………………....P-18

Industry Involvement…………………………………………………………………………...…P-19

Mail Transmission……………………………………………………………………………...…P-19

Present Scenario…………………………………………………………………..............….….P-20

Future Growth & Competition………………………………………………….…..……….……P-20


Survey………………………………………………………………………….……………..……P-22

Empirical Result & its Analysis………………………………………….…….……………..…..P-22

Limitations……………………………………………………………………………..….……….P-26

Conclusion……………………………………………………………….…….……...…...…..….P-27

Bibliography…………………………………………………………….…….…………..….…....P-28

Annexure- Goods (Parcels)
A………………………………………………………………….……......………..…P-29

Annexure-
Communication

B………………………………………………………………………………………..P-30

Payment (Funds)

Introduction
Flows Activity Platforms
Posts are part of a
region’s overhead capital and networks of transportation. Settlements and communications
mediate exchange of goods, information and money between firms and consumers. In
addition, they support inter-firm communications and social communication.

Firms

Households
Households


Fig 1

Postal and Courier infrastructure services provide essential two-way links that bring buyers
and sellers together, forge markets, build relationships, act as a distribution channel and
collector of revenue, facilitate and complete transactions and fulfill demand or orders.

The Courier and Express
• Information Sell Letters
Service are • Payments Response Counters operationally
distinct from • Goods Fulfill Packages the traditional
postal services, geared to
a higher level of speed and reliability. The essence of Courier services lie in the seamless
and efficient coordination of collection, transportation and the delivery of items. They have
explored and developed a niche for urgent exchange of physical communications, making it
into a billion dollar global business. Postal and Courier services can be categorized as
communications and logistic service.

The Postal service forms part of the daily life of people all over the world. Even in the digital
and electronic age the Post remains for millions of people, the most accessible means of
communication and message delivery available.

During the past fifteen years, a wide variety of forces caused Postal services to re-think their
role in the communications market. The combined effects of direct and indirect competition,
privatization of Postal services especially in industrialized countries, the separation of the
Operator and Regulator function, liberalization, customer demands for better and more
reliable products, and the advent of new communications technologies, convinced Postal

services that they should modify their operational and financial strategies in order to remain
competitive.

As markets were liberalized, Postal services became more vulnerable. At the same time
opportunities were afforded to exploit new markets by taking advantage of the development
of International trade. Posts worldwide were therefore influenced to reform by:

• The emergence of the private sector as a dominant force in the transportation and
communications sector,

• Lobbying groups established by private Couriers which, though claiming that a level
playing field was needed, were actively pushing to reduce the Postal monopoly,

• The orientation of financial and development agencies like the World Bank and the
IMF, which under financial assistance programmes are advocating less Government
and more private initiatives for the sector.

Research Hypothesis

Performance of Indian postal service is more secure & reliable in comparison with the
private competitors.

Research Hypothesis was proved from the response of the survey questionnaire as shown in
page no.23-24, wherein 66.67% (Agree + Strongly Agree) respondents are in favour of


Indian Postal Service and 46% against. Further detail data summary have been shown in
Annexure-B. The purpose of this research is to understand and to find out factors that affect
customer’s satisfaction level and user decision in postal/courier service products. Deductive
approach was applied in this research because this approach was support to confirm and
reject all issues that were form based on previous researches and theories. Furthermore,
Quantitative approach was an appropriate way to find out the tendency of courier service and
customer’s experience toward postal/courier service. Moreover, quantitative approach was
also useful to evaluate, summarize and report the finding accurately.

Methodology
A quantitative research is a method based on statistic data’s gathering via questionnaires or
surveys, in order to know the general public tendency. A qualitative research is the second
research method, which evaluates information about opinions and values, at the contrary of
statistic data. A quantitative approach is constructed as a research strategy that emphasizes
quantification in the collection and analysis of data. Furthermore, quantitative methods gives
priority to fixed measurement, hypothesis and a lesser flexible form of fieldwork involvement.
Quantitative method projects for reliability by utilizing tools such as standardized
questionnaires.

Data collection: Instrument/technique to collect data

Primary data collection: Primary data is the specific data which the researchers collect or
observe by themselves such as conducting a questionnaire and interview. This specific data
can be seen as an important data because the data is unique and it is collected and
observed according to the specific purpose of the research. In this research, I conducted
questionnaire for gathering all concrete information to analyze and answer all the issues in
this research question. Primary data is seen as valuable and essential data in the research
regarding to an exclusive result that the authors obtained directly from the survey. The
Questionnaire and the Result of survey are shown in Annexure.

Secondary data collection: Secondary data collection can be seen as a beginning of this
research. Firstly, I had studied and reviewed many relevant data to know and understand the
area of the research. Secondly, I used secondary data as an indicator to do further research.
Secondary analysis is the scrutiny of available data by previous studies or other researchers
who probably have not been involved in the collection of those data. This data is concerned
as an important tool for gathering all relevant data according to the purposes of this thesis.
Moreover, secondary data provides many benefits to this research such as cost and time

saving with high-quality data. Those are the reasons to support why secondary data was
applied in this research.

Steps Followed While Conducting Research

Population and sample

Defining the Target population:

The survey is about to understand the Customer experience between Indian Postal service
and Private courier service in terms performances, the choice of focusing the questionnaires
on customer, who are generally use the Postal/courier service.

i) Sample Element: Students/Office Executives/Businessmen.

a. Sample Unit: Professional Institute & Pvt./Govt. Office complex are chosen as
sample unit to conduct this study.

b. Extent: West Delhi, North Delhi & West Delhi.

The extent of study includes Delhi University North & South campus, & market complex in
Dwarka, West Delhi.

c. Time: Monday to Saturday

Working days are choosen for the purpose of conducting study. The time chosen is 1730 –
1830 hrs for FMS and 1000 – 1600 hrs. for AAI office complex and Dwarka.

d. Sample Frame: i) FMS, South Campus & North Campus (MBA-PT)

ii) AAI Operational office complex, Rangpuri, New Delhi

iii) Market & Residential Complex, Sector-6,10,11,12,4 & 5,

Dwarka, New Delhi.

FMS (North & South campus) and AAI is taken as a place where the data is collected by
getting the questionnaire filled from the student and office executives, whereas Market
Complex, Dwarka is taken to collect the data basically from businessmen.

ii) Sampling procedure: Random Sampling

There will be no. of people coming to FMS (MBA-PT) and AAI, operational office including
both men and women and no. of businessmen are available in market complex, Dwarka. For

Indian Postal Service Vs Private Courier Service 10 | P a g e

the study purpose random sampling is done in which both males & females were
approached.

iii) Sample Size: 300

Developing Questionnaire

1. Questionnaire

The questionnaire has been prepared based on personal data and Customer Experience.
Closed-ended questionnaire were applied in this research. All questions in personal data part
asked about age, educational qualification and occupation. All questions consist of customer
experience towards security & reliability, prompt service, pricing, customer feedback,
customer friendly/convenience, preference of Indian Postal service or courier service etc.
This questionnaire was created to understand the customer experiences towards Indian
Postal service and private courier service performance.

2. Pre Test the Questionnaire

Before everything, it was important to pre-test the questionnaire with ten or so persons in
order to see if the analysis was relevant or not, and in this case, if it will be important to
modify some questions. The pre-test was relevant with the following findings from
Questionnaire while pre testing it:

a. The question option “Rural & Urban Network” has been modified and made two
questions instead of one as (i) wide rural network coverage and (ii) wide urban
network coverage.

b. The question option “Customer friendly” has been modified to “Customer
friendly/convenience”.

3. Final Questionnaire

After modifying the questionnaire as per observations through pre testing phase, the final
questionnaire was drafted. All aspects related to Indian Postal & Private courier service
included as a part of questionnaires. The Final Questionnaires was distributed to around 350
respondents as per identified sample elements with the pre identified sampling extent, frame
and procedure.


Indian Postal Service

Network & Computerization

Indian Postal Network is the largest postal network in the world having more than 1.5 lakh
post offices all over the country. The system is managed, operated, and controlled by the
Department of Post under the Ministry of Communication, Government of India.


The postal network consists of different categories of post offices, viz., General Post Offices
(GPO), Head Post Offices, Foreign Post Office, Sub-Post Offices etc. To facilitate sorting and
delivery of mails, India is divided into eight postal zones. Each zone is then subdivided into
many postal circles. Under each circle, head post offices and sub-post offices are there. To
speed up the sorting and delivering process and also for identification, a specific six-digit
number is allotted to each post office of our country. This number is called Postal Index
Number (PIN). Each digit of postal index number has a meaning and serves a specific
purpose.

From 2008 to 2010, a total of 10,000 POs were computerized. Around 1233 offices have
been networked with the National Data Centre. A range of services have been e-enabled.
The online domestic money transmission service, iMO5, launched in 2006 and made
functional in over 1,000 locations. Electronic Clearance Service (ECS) is offered in RBI and
21 locations of the SBI for payment of monthly interest under Monthly Income Scheme. The
electronic money order (eMO), launched in October 2008. e-Payment is now available in
about 5,700 POs and will soon be extended to all 9,693 computerized POs.

The following are the zones and their jurisdiction.

Zone States and Union Territories

1 Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu &
Kashmir
2 Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal
3 Rajasthan, Gujarat, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli
4 Maharashtra, Goa, Madhya Pradesh and Chhatisgarh
5 Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka
6 Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Lakshadweep
7 West Bengal, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Orissa, Arunchal Pradesh, Assam,
Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura
8 Bihar and Jharkhand

Types of Postal Service

Indian postal services are mainly concerned with collection, sorting, and distribution of
letters, parcels, packets, etc. Besides, a number of other services are also provided to the
general public as well as business enterprises under the following main headings.

• Mail service


• Remittance service
• Banking service
• Insurance service
• Other services

Mail Service

Mail service is one of the main services of post office that deals with collection of letters and
parcels from the sender to distribute among the receivers. Indian Postal service deals with
both inland and international mails. While sending a written message, the sender can make
use of a post card, inland letter card or envelop. For sending an article in a packet or parcel,
a wrapper (thick paper or cloth) can be used. These are the alternative means of sending
any mail through the post office.

Post Card: Post card is the cheapest means of written communication. It is a card on both
sides of which we can write our message. It has a specified space to write the address of the
receiver. In the post office, two different types of post cards are available. One is 'ordinary
post card' and the other is 'competition post card'.

Inland: Like post card, written messages can also be sent using inland letter card. This card
is sold by post offices and is commonly used for sending messages within our country.
Unlike post card, the written portion of the inland letter card is folded and sealed. Only names
and addresses of the receiver and the sender remain open.

Envelope: It is a small size paper packet having one side open. Postal Envelopes are
available at all post offices. These are widely used for mailing letters and other documents in
all government and private offices as well as in business firms. In these envelopes there is
no need to affix any additional postage if the weight of your enclosure is upto a certain limit. If
it exceeds that limit, then additional postage will have to be affixed according to the postal
rates.

Parcel Post: The postal facility through which articles can be sent in the form of parcels is
known as Parcel Post. It provides reliable and economical parcel delivery service. Under
parcel post services, parcels of specified size and weight can be sent across the country as
well as outside the country.


Book Post: Articles in the form of printed materials, printed books, periodicals, greeting
cards can also be mailed as book post. Under book post, envelopes containing books or
documents should only be closed but not sealed.

Specialized Mail Service
For convenience of people post office also offers various mail services having some extra
advantages like sending mails faster, ensuring certainty of delivery of mails, compensating
the sender in case of loss or damage to the mail during transit etc. We can avail of the
benefit of all these facilities by paying additional postage.

Certificate of Posting: When ordinary letters are posted, the post office does not issue any
receipt. In case if a sender wants a certificate can be obtained from the post office on
payment of prescribed fee. This is called ‘certificate of posting’. It may serve as an evidence
of posting in case of any dispute about communication.

Registered Post: To ensure that mail is definitely delivered to the addressee otherwise it
should comeback to the sender. In such situations, the post office offers registered post
facility through which we can send our letters and parcels.

Insured Post: Insured post is a type of mail service through which valuable articles may be
sent after insuring these upto a specific amount. In case of any loss or damage to the letter
or parcel, the post office shall compensate for it.

Speed Post: Here post office provides time-bound as well as guaranteed mail delivery
through its Speed Post Service. Under this service, letters, documents and parcels are
delivered faster i.e., within a fixed time frame. This facility is available at specific post offices.

Post Restante: When it is necessary to send letter to a person whose exact address is not
known you can send it to the postmaster of that area in which the receiver resides. These
letters are called Post Restante Letters. With this indication the letter will be retained at the
post office at the receiving end (maximum for 14 days) and delivered to the addressee on his
calling the postmaster concerned.

Postage for Mail Service
In our country there is a uniform rate for all types of mails (except speed post) that move
within the country. For mail outside the country or by speed post, the postage varies on the


basis of weight as well as distance. The payment to post office for the service is made
through postal stamp.

Postal Stamp: Postal stamps of various rates are available in all Post office. The postage we
pay while buying post cards, inland letter cards and envelopes (with stamp) available in the
post office, only for the minimum permissible weight of our documents. If the weight exceeds
that limit we have to affix additional postage.

Franked postage: In large offices where hundreds of letters have to be stamped everyday,
the post office provides another facility to affix stamps through a machine known as ‘franking
machine’. This machine can print postage of different denominations, which are called
franked postage.

Payment without affixing any stamp: These are certain types of mail where the postage is
paid by the sender either well before dispatching the mail or by the receiver after receiving
the mail. The Postal Department carries braille literatures free of charge.

Computerized Slip: In some post offices now-a-days computer generated slips are pasted
on the mails. There is no need to affix any postal stamp separately. The amount of postage
paid, date and time is mentioned on the slip. This facility is available for registered letters,
speed post letters, etc. and not for ordinary letters.

Remittance Service

Money Order: Money can be sent through post office under money order service. Money
order is an order issued by one post office to another post office to pay a certain sum of
money only to the person named therein. For the convenience of customers, post office
offers different types of money order services like Ordinary Money Order, Telegraphic Money
Order, Satellite Money Order, Speedpost Money Order, etc. For the convenience of
businessmen it also offers Corporate Money Order service.

Postal Order: Like Money Order, money can also send through postal order i.e., Indian
Postal Order (IPO). It is a convenient method of sending money from one place to another
place. Postal Orders are available at all post offices in different denominations like Re.1/-,
Rs.2/-, Rs.5/-, Rs.7/-, Rs.10/-,Rs.20/-, Rs.50/-, and Rs.100/-.

Banking Service


Post offices undertake some of services like accepting deposits from the public and
withdrawal of deposits. Under this service it offers various schemes to encourage the savings
and motivate people to save. Some of the important savings schemes offered by post office
are:

Post Office Savings Bank Account: It is a type of account in which we can deposit our
savings in post offices and withdraw it whenever required. The account can also be jointly
operated. Post office pays interest on our deposits, which is totally exempted from income
tax.

5-Year Post Office Recurring Deposit Scheme: A Recurring Deposit account can be
opened for any amount, which is a multiple of Rs.5/- without any maximum limit. The deposit
is to be made every month for a period of 5 years.

Post Office Time Deposit Account: Any individual can open this account with a minimum
balance of Rs.50/-, without any maximum limit. The depositor makes deposit in lump sum
and that amount matures after the expiry of a fixed period like one, two, three or five years.
Interest on this account is given on annual basis but computed quarterly. The deposit amount
as well as interest income is exempted from tax.

Post Office Monthly Income Scheme: Under this scheme a fixed sum of money is
deposited for six-years and the depositors get the interest on it every month. A minimum
amount of Rs.1, 000/- and maximum of Rs.3 lakh in individual account and Rs.6 lakh in case
of joint account can be deposited. In addition to interest the deposit amount also earns bonus
at the rate of 10% which is payable on maturity. Both interest as well as bonus is exempted
from tax.

6-Year National Savings Certificates (VIII Issue) Scheme: National Savings Certificates
(NSC) can be purchased from the post office. Interest is compounded half-yearly and
payable also half-yearly. After 6 years, these certificates can be encashed from the post
office. Interest income is treated as re-investment and is subject to tax rebate. This deposit
scheme is very popular among the income tax payers.

15 Year Public Provident Fund Account (PPF Account): Individuals can open this account
in their own name or in the name of their minor child. In this account atleast one deposit is
required in every year. A minimum deposit of Rs. 500/- is required to be made each year.
The deposit amount gets rebate under income tax and the interest income is fully tax-free.

Kissan Vikas Patra Scheme: In this scheme a fixed sum of money gets doubled within a
certain period. There is no maximum limit of investment. Money can be withdrawn before its
maturity but there is a minimum period called lock-in period within which your money cannot
be withdrawn.

Insurance Services
In addition to dealing with mail and remittance of money, post offices also provide life
insurance coverage to individuals. Post offices offer life insurance under two schemes; (i)
Postal Life Insurance (PLI), and (ii) Rural Postal Life Insurance (RPLI).

Postal Life Insurance: Postal Life Insurance (PLI) was initially introduced for postal
employees. Over the years it has been extended to the employees of central and state
governments, public sector undertakings, universities, government aided institutions,
nationalized banks and financial institutions. The post office allows the employees of these
organizations, who are below 50 years of age, to insure their life on payment of a fixed
premium for a particular period. It undertakes to pay a certain sum of money either on the
death of the insured or on the expiry of a specified period.

Rural Postal Life Insurance: Just like postal Life Insurance, the Post Offices also provide
life insurance coverage to the people living in rural areas and the weaker sections of society,
which is known as Rural Postal Life Insurance (RPLI). Under RPLI, the insured person pays
a very low premium for the insurance coverage.

Others Postal services
Apart from several postal services like mail, remittance, banking and insurance services, post
office also provides various other services like-.

Sale of stamps: In addition to postal stamps, various other types of stamp like revenue
stamp, share transfer stamps, recruitment stamp etc. are also sold at post offices.

Sale of Forms: Post office facilitates sale of different forms like passport forms, UPSC
(Union Public Service Commission) forms, SSC (Staff Selection Commission) forms and
forms of other national level competitive examinations.

Bill Payment: Post office also collects payment of telephone, electricity, and water bills from
the consumers.


Pension payment: For the convenience of pensioners, Government of India has made
necessary arrangement for payment of pension through post office. Military, railways,
coalmines, telecom pensioners can avail of this facility from the nearest post offices. Post
office also provides the facility of old age pension to senior citizens. Ministry of Social
Welfare and State Governments grant this old age pension.

Post shops: Post shops are the small retail shops established for sale of postal stationery
items, greeting cards and small gift items to the customers. These shops are found within the
premises of some post offices.

Philately: Special and commemorative postage stamps as well as special covers (envelopes)
are issued by the Postal Department that cover a wide range of themes reflecting the rich
natural and cultural heritage of the country. Important national and international events,
famous personalities and institutions are honoured through the medium of commemorative
postage stamps and envelopes. These stamps enjoy wide popularity in the world of philately.

Gramin Sanchar Sewak Scheme: With a dream to provide telephone facility to every home,
Gramin Sanchar Sewak Scheme has been launched. It is a joint effort of Department of Post
and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) Under this scheme, the postmen while delivering
mails from door to door will also carry a mobile phone with them. People can make use of
that phone by paying the specified charge to the postman. This facility is available only in
rural areas of our country.

Private Courier Services

There are some private operators who provide mail services to the public. They are known
as private couriers. They collect letters and parcels and deliver them at the place of the
addressee. Private couriers provide quick service in collection and delivery of letters, parcels,
packets etc. No postage is required to be affixed on letters and parcels if sent through
couriers. The charges payable for private courier service are generally higher in comparison
to post office. Again these charges are also not uniform. Private couriers are popular in big
cities and towns. OVERNITE EXPRESS, FIRST FLIGHT, DTDC, DHL, BLUE DART
EXPRESS are some of the private carriers operating in our country. The main features of
private courier services are as follows:

• It provides a quick means of communication.
• It provides facilities for national as well as international communication.
• All kinds of articles are handled by it except gold and jewellery.


• Besides using railways, roadways and airways for carriage of articles, some agencies
use telephone, telex and fax services for transmission of messages.
• It undertakes full responsibility of safe and timely delivery of articles.
• It collects articles from the doorstep of senders and delivers them to the receivers.

Industry Involvement

In Postal/Courier service Industry no. of other Industries are involved. An airline provides air
transport services. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and
may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit. Generally, airline
companies are recognized with an air opening certificate or license issued by a governmental
aviation body.

Airlines vary from those with a single aircraft carrying mail or cargo through full-service
international airlines operating hundreds of aircraft. Airline services can be categorized as
being intercontinental, intra-continental, domestic, regional, or international, and may be
operated as scheduled services or charters.

Further, there are various road transports and Rail transports are providing services for
carrying mail or cargo from one state to other. Also for local services, mail bags and small
cargos are carried through road ways like motor vehicles, auto rickshaws and cycles etc. for
delivering/collecting to/from the target destinations.

Mail Transmission

Post office collects letters and parcels either through its counters or by installing letterboxes.
People drop letters in these boxes at any time according to their convenience and post office
collects these once or twice everyday during office hours. This facilitates quick sorting and
delivery of letters. The different box collects different type of mail as given below:

• Red boxes are meant for collection of mails, which are not local.

• Green boxes are meant for collection of local mail.

• Blue boxes are meant for collection of mails addressed to metro cities.

• Yellow boxes are meant for collection of mails addressed to all capital cities.

For short distance, mailbags are carried through roadways with the help of motor vehicles,
auto rickshaws and cycles etc. But for long distance mails, the most convenient mode is
railways. In our country Railway Mail Service (RMS) facilitates sending and receiving mail by


railway. You might have seen the offices of the RMS inside the premises of almost all big
railway stations all over the country.

The mails that move through railways, motor vehicle, cycles etc., are called Surface mail.
Besides sending mails through roadways and railways, Indian Postal Department has also
made necessary arrangement to send mails through airways wherever air linkage is
available. All international mails are forwarded through airways. So the mail carried on by air
transport is known as Airmail.

Present Scenario
Currently, India Post does not provide services such as ‘pick-up’ services, ‘account holder’
services, ‘hold-in-your-office’ services, and payment at receiver’s end services. Private
courier companies have already started bringing in these concepts which enhance the
efficiency of the courier sector. Several courier companies offer special international delivery
services where a courier travels with the consignment and personally delivers it. Emergency
medicines and medical products, which require very rapid delivery, demand such services.
Currently India Post is incurring losses in both letter-post as well as value-added services.

Outright, we cannot privatize India Post as close to 5.5 lakh people are employed with India
Post. There are several innovative ways to revive public service provider companies and
many success stories. Those alternatives must be considered and debated before taking a
decision. As service sector growth is higher than growth in the manufacturing sector, it is
possible to turn around a service providing company in the medium run. For this to happen,
technology infusion, aggressive marketing, professional management, possible cooperation
in some services with other companies, outsourcing some noncritical services, etc. are
required.

India Post generates sufficient revenue through mobilization of household savings and
savings may be utilized partially in the capital market for further gains which can be used
directly for the betterment of India Post.

Future Growth and Competition
The new national postal policy is seeking to strengthen India Post’s role in driving socio-
economic development in India, providing a range of affordable services for the whole
population and to support business, particularly for SMEs. It lays out ambitions to expand
and modernize the India Post network, extending services into more rural areas, using the
network to provide more retail services and promote financial inclusion and socio-economic
equality in the subcontinent.

The policy states that India Post will need technology partners to help it modernize its own
communications networks. The policy proposal also asks the question whether corporate
social responsibility should be included as part of the universal service obligation and notes
the importance of using technology like better IT to reduce the usage of paper and improve
environmental impacts at India Post.

The postal policy proposal does raise the question whether multiple operators should run the
universal service, but generally appears to favour more protection for the
universal service including more clearly-delineated definitions.

The policy considers the need for a separate industry regulator, and regarding the
competitive side of the industry proposes more work to create a level playing field and
increase service standards for registered operators. More than 2,000 small-to-large players
operate in the EUR 1bn Indian courier, express and parcel market, which has been
experiencing annual growth rates as high as 20%. More Growth is expected as e-commerce
gains popularity in India.

Future Growth could see courier, express and parcels operators sharing networks. Particular
potential for increased cooperation exists between India Post and multi-national operators in
the area of cross-border mail, parcels and logistics, the policy states, particularly with India
Post providing last mile delivery to all areas including rural and remote regions.

The policy discusses the need to develop the national IT infrastructure to foster more e-
commerce growth, and develop secure online payment systems, and for cross-border
shipping the need for an electronic interface between India Post, other market operators, the
airlines and customs of facials.

Survey
The survey process was initiated at the pre identified sample time. After distribution of 350
questionnaires I was received filled questionnaire only 311, out of which 11 were rejected

due to non clarity/unfairness. Finally total sample of 300 was put under analysis for deducting
conclusion.

Empirical Result & its Analysis
This provides the facts of the result deriving from the responses of the questionnaires.

1. Which Postal/Courier Service organization mostly do you prefer?

On the Preference of Indian postal / Pvt. Courier service issue 137 respondents were in favor
of Indian Postal and 163 against. It can say that there was a positive bias towards the
preference of Pvt. Courier Services which is 54.33%.

54.33% 45.67% Indian Post
Pvt. Courier

Fig: 1S: Respondent’s Choice Postal/Courier Service

1(a). Which Pvt. Courier Service Co. do you mostly prefer?

30.00%
25.00%
20.00%
15.00%
Level f Preference, %
10.00%
5.00%
0.00%
Blu Dart DTDC First Flight Overnite

Fig:2S: Respondent’s Choice of Pvt. Courier Service

Out of 160 respondents who opted for Pvt. Courier service majority of them prefer Blue Dart
Courier Service (27%), followed by DTDC (15.67%), First Flight (8.67%) & Overnite (37%).


2. What do you look first when you use Postal/Courier Service?

70.00%
60.00%
50.00%
40.00%
30.00% Leve of
20.00% Imortance, %
10.00%
0.00%
s t
ric
e ty es es en nd
P a fe
l in tur m ra
S e a e B
Fe is
Ti
m
e rt
dv
A

Fig: 3S: Respondent Look First

Majority of the respondent look first time (61.67%) and then safety (51.67%), when they use
either Indian Postal or Pvt. Courier Service.

3 & 4. The Indian Postal Service/Pvt. Courier Services is

More Secure and reliable: More secure and reliability of Indian Postal Services was in the
higher side compare to the Pvt. Courier services. Therefore, Indian Postal service is more
secure and reliable.

Provide Prompt service : For prompt service Pvt. Courier service was in the higher side,
wherein 19.67% respondent were strongly agree and 0% strongly agree for Indian Postal
Service.

Less costly: On the cost issue Indian postal service was in the lower side i.e. compare to
Pvt. Courier service, cost of Indian postal services are low.

Wide range of service products: On the issue of service product range, no clear trend
emerged as 64% (Moderately agree + Agree + strongly Agree) respondents were in favor of
Indian postal Services and 63.34% (Moderately agree + Agree + Strongly Agree) against.
However, it can say that there was a slightly positive bias towards the India Postal Services.

Customer feedback: There is enough data to conclude that Customer feedback of


Pvt. Courier Services is excellent.

100%
90%
80% Not Agree
70%
60% Somewhat Agree
50% Moderately Agree
40% Agree
30%
20% Srongly Agree
10%
0%
b le i ce t ly
uc
ts
ag
e c k
ag
e
nc
e
lia rv os er ba er ie
Re S e
sC d od ov v en
pt s r ee Co nv
& Le ice rf kC k
ur
e om er
v e or or Co
ec Pr fs to
m tw tw er
eS o
Cu
s Ne lN
e
to
m
or nge an ra us
M Ra b Ru C
Ur

Fig:4S:The Reason For Using Indian Postal Service

100%
90%
80%
70% Not Agree
60% Somewhat Agree
50% Moderately Agree
40% Agree
30% Srongly Agree
20%
10%
0%
le s
b ic e tly ct ac
k ge ge ce
lia rv os du ra ra en
Re Se C o db ve ve ni
& pt Le
ss er fe
e Co Co ve
e m vic er rk rk on
ur Pr
o se
r
om
o w
o
er
C
Sec of st et
w
et m
e Cu N N o
or ge an al st
M R an rb R ur Cu
U

Fig:5S:The Reason For Using Indian Pvt. Courier Service


Wide Urban network coverage: In case of Urban network coverage, again no clear trend
emerged as 73.33% (Agree + strongly Agree) respondents were in favor of Indian postal
Services and 66.67% (Agree + Strongly Agree) against. However, it can say that there was a
positive bias towards the Indian Postal Services.

Wide Rural network coverage: There is clear evidence that a rural network Coverage of
Pvt. Courier service is very poor compare to Indian Postal services.

Customer friendly/ convenience: In case of Customer convenience, majority of respondent
strongly supported the Pvt. Courier service organization.

5. Age (Years)

59.67% respondents were below 35 years, 17.33% were between 40 to 45 years, 17% were
between 35 to 40 years and 65 were above 45 years.

6% below 35
17.33%
35-40
59.67%
17% 40-45
Above 45

Fig:6S: Respondent’s Age

6. Educational Qualification?

i) 39.33% were Post Graduate

ii) 35.33% were Graduate

iii) 25.33% were Professional


0%

25.33% Under Graduate
35.33%
Graduate
39.33% Post Graduate
Professional

Fig:7S:Respondent’s Qualification

7. Occupation

Majority of the respondent were working in Pvt. Organization (61.67%), whereas 34%
respondents were in Govt. sector.

0%
4.33% 0%
Student
Govt.
34% Private
61.67%
Own business
Others

Fig:8S: Respondent’s Occupation

Limitations

 Sample size was limited.

 Beside Primary data, the study is also based on secondary data published in books &
journals of the researchers. Sometimes data which is published by the researchers
cannot analyze fresh situation means old data and wrong data is collected by inherent
error.

 Since the sample was taken from limited population, hence the finding cannot be
generalized.

Conclusion

The Postal and Courier Sector have a prime opportunity to become a trusted partner in the
region. There is considerable good will for the sector. Postal organizations have captured the
interest of the Government because of efforts to reform operations and widen its scope.
Performance of this service is strongly dependent on other industries like Airlines, Railways
etc. Accordingly cost is also dependent on other industries.

From the above analysis it can be concluded that Indian Postal service is more secure and
reliable. On the contrary, Pvt. Companies are more customer convenience, provide prompt
service & feed back to their customers. Though Indian Postal Services are less costly, more
secure and reliable but still they are lagging behind to provide prompt service, proper
customer feed back and customer convenience. Customer wants timeliness first, then safety.
Therefore, to sustain in the competitive market for a long period, Indian Postal service must
improve their Customer convenience, prompt service and customer feed back. They need to
open more outlets in market place. Also, India Post should started services such as ‘pick-up’
services, ‘account holder’ services, ‘hold-in-your-office’ services, and payment at receiver’s
end services to compete with private competitors.


Bibliography

 Express Industry Council of India (2007), Indian Post Office (Amendment) Bill 2006.
http://www.eiciindia.org/FrontSite/Index.aspx

 Association of International Courier and Express Services (2001), The impact of
competition in the postal sector, June.

 13 Jan 2010 – Indian Logistics Industry 2009: Project Report on Indian logistic
industry: Rajnish Kumar, Student of PGDM, Swami vevekanad School of
Management, Ramnagar (near Banur), Patiala: www.slideshare.net
sunilmbsingh/16319859-indian-logistics-industry

 Indian Postal Service - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: Block all en.wikipedia.org
results: 13 th Feb 2012: en.wikipedia.org /wiki/ Indian_ Postal_Service

 Redesigning India Post: Researched and documented by oneworld.net: One World
Foundation India: February 2011: Governance Knowledge Centre (GKC) team.
Documentation was created by Research Associate, Attrika Hazarika

 Study of Indian Postal Services: Institute of Business management & Research,
Ahmedabad, Gujarat: Migendra Kumar Shrivastava & Mohanish Kumar Singh,
MBA+PGDM


 A text book of “Competitive Advantage: Michael E Porter: Published by Simon &
Schuster, New York: First Free Press Export Edition 2004

 A text book of “Marketing Research - An Applied Orientation: Naresh K. Malhotra:
Published by Prentice Hall, Sixth Edition 2009

Annexure-A

Indian Postal Vs Private Courier Services

1) Which postal/courier service organization mostly do you prefer?

 Indian Postal service  Pvt. Courier service

If your answer is “Private courier service” then answer question 1(a), else go to (2)

1(a) Which Pvt. Courier service Co. do you mostly prefer?

 DTDC  Overnite  First Flight  Blue Dart

2) What do you look first when you use postal/courier service?
 Price  Safety Timeliness  Features  Advertisement  Brand

Each of the items listed below has been identified as studied determinants of service
quality. How important do you personally consider each of the following

in your decision making?

1(Low) 2 3 4 5(High)
Not Agree Somewhat Agree Moderately Agree Agree Strongly Agree


Please circle a rating indicating your perceived level of importance

3) The Indian Postal Services is
 More Secure and reliable 1 2 3 4
5
 Provide Prompt service 1 2 3 4
5
 less costly (Speed post) 1 2 3 4
5
 Wide range of service products 1 2 3 4
 Customer feedback 1 2 3 4 5
 Wide Urban network coverage 1 2 3 4
5
 Wide Rural network coverage 1 2 3 4
5
 Customer friendly/ convenience 1 2 3 4
5

4) Private Courier Service is
 More Secure and reliable 1 2 3 4 5
 Provide Prompt service 1 2 3 4 5
 less costly (in comparison with Speed post) 1 2 3 4 5
 Wide range of service products 1 2 3 4 5
 Customer feedback 1 2 3 4 5
 Wide Urban network coverage 1 2 3 4 5
 Wide Rural network coverage 1 2 3 4 5
 Customer friendly/ convenience 1 2 3 4 5

5) Age (years):

 Below 35 35 – 40  40-45  Above 45

6) Educational qualification:

 Undergraduate  Graduate  Post graduate  Professional

7) Occupation:

 StudentGovernment sector Private sector Own business  others

---------------Thanks for your co-operation -----------------


Annexure-B
Data Summary
Total Respondent : 300

Q.
Q. Question Description
Question Description Total No. of
Total No. of % of
% of
No.
No. Respondents
Respondents Respondents
Respondents
1 e Which postal/courier service organization
Customer Feed back
mostly Not you prefer?
• do Agree (1) 103 34.33
a Indian Postal service 137 45.67
• Somewhat Agree (2) 97 32.33
b Pvt. Courier service 163 54.33
• Moderately Agree (3) 72 24
1(a) Which Pvt. Courier service Co. do you mostly
•
prefer Agree (4) 28 9.3
•
a DTDC Strongly Agree (5) 0
47 0
15.67
bf Overnite
Wide Urban Network Coverage 9 3
• Not
c First Flight Agree (1) 21
26 7
8.67
• Somewhat Agree (2)
d Blue Dart 9
81 3
27
2 • Moderately first when
What do you look Agree (3) you use 50 16.67
• Agree (4)
postal/courier service 99 33
•
a Price Strongly Agree (5) 29
121 9.67
40.33
b SafetyRural Network Coverage
g Wide 155 51.67
c Timeliness Agree (1)
• Not 185
11 61.67
3.67
d Features
• Somewhat Agree (2) 0
19 0
6.33
e Advertisement
• Moderately Agree (3) 0
50 0
16.67
f Brand Agree (4)
• 20
77 6.67
25.67
3 The•Indian Postal Services is
Strongly Agree (5) 143 47.67
a More Secure and reliable
h Customer friendly/ convenience
• Not Agree (1)
• Not Agree (1)
29
81 9.67
27
11
49 3.67
16.33
• Moderately Agree (3)
60
88 20
29.33
• Agree (4)
• Agree (4)
119
82 39.67
27.33
• Strongly Agree (5)
81
0 27
0
4 b Provide Prompt Service
The Private Courier Services is
• Not Agree reliable
a More Secure and(1) 69 23
• Somewhat (1)
• Not Agree Agree (2) 41
49 13.67
16.33
41 30.33
13.67
• Agree (4) Agree (3)
• Moderately 99
80 33
26.67
• Agree (4) 0
91 0
30.33
c Less Costly
• Strongly Agree (5) 39 13
• Not Agree (1)
b Provide Prompt Service 9 3
• Somewhat (1)
11 0
3.67
0 23.67
0
• Moderately 147
89 49
29.67
• Agree (4) 73
141 24.33
47
d Wide Range of Service Products
• Strongly Agree (5) 59 19.67
• Costly
c Less Not Agree (1) 72 24
• Somewhat (1)
131 12.67
43.67
89 30
29.67
• Moderately 61
70 20.33
23.33
• Agree (4) 41
10 13.67
3.33


Q. Question Description Total No. of % of
No. Respondents Respondents
d Wide Range of Service Products
• Not Agree (1) 39 13
• Agree (4) 122 40.67
e Customer Feed back
• Not Agree (1) 40 13.33
• Somewhat Agree (2) 9 3
• Agree (4) 181 60.33
f Wide Urban Network Coverage
• Not Agree (1) 19 6.33
• Moderately Agree (3) 70 23.33
• Agree (4) 153 51
g Wide Rural Network Coverage
• Not Agree (1) 138 46
• Agree (4) 32 10.67
h Customer friendly/ convenience
• Not Agree (1) 11 3.67
• Moderately Agree (3) 100 30.33
• Agree (4) 112 37.33
5 Age (years)
a Belo 35 179 59.67
b 35 - 40 51 17
c 40 - 45 52 17.33
d Above 45 18 6
6 Educational qualification
a Under Graduate 0 0
b Graduate 106 35.33
c Post graduate 118 39.33
d Professional 76 25.33
7 Occupation
a Student 0 0
b Govt. Sector 102 34
Q. Question Description Total No. of % of
No. Respondents Respondents
c Pvt. Sector 185 61.67


d Own Business 13 4.33
e Other 0 0


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