HC asks department of posts to end Speed Post discrepancies

GURGAON: Punjab and Haryana high court, while hearing a public interest litigation, has asked the department of posts, Gurgaon, to settle, in 15 days, the discrepancy surrounding the cost of sending a Speed Post from Gurgaon to Delhi. According to the petitioner, while it costs only Rs 17 to send Speed Post from Delhi to Gurgaon, it costs Rs 39 to send it from Gurgaon to Delhi. The court on Friday gave the postal department to dispose of the petition in 15 days.

A city resident had filed the PIL accusing the department of causing loss to exchequer and cheating people. He has demanded that the department should refund crores of rupees it has charged from Gurgaon residents.

"The very fact that the high court has entertained the PIL shows that it too finds something wrong with the way the postal department is charging fee for Speed Post. else it would have dismissed the petition. Even postal department officials in Gurgaon unofficially admit that what they are charging is not correct but retract from doing what they should because they know that they might have to refund crores of rupees," said Aseem Takyar, the petitioner.

"Earlier, post offices located in Gurgaon charged Rs 17 but from April 2013, onwards, they started charging Rs 35 plus taxes for the 'Speed Post' mails for Delhi/New Delhi, Faridabad, Ghaziabad and Noida. The reality is, if you send a speed post from the post offices situated at the Delhi-Gurgaon border, which comes under the jurisdiction of Delhi, it will cost you Rs 17 for it to be delivered anywhere in Gurgaon or other NCR regions. At the same time, if you book the same article from Gurgaon, Rs 39 is charged," said Takyar.

"This is unethical. The postal officials in Gurgaon are now scared of repercussions for charging excess fee and I hope they come out with a solution within these 15 days and also refund those from whom they have charged extra since April this year," he said.

Source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/gurgaon/HC-asks-department-of-posts-to-end-Speed-Post-discrepancies/articleshow/22870253.cms