Thursday, April 5, 2012

Post Card from India to Foreign Countries


India Post - Airmail Post Card

 For many years I was under an assumption that India Post doesn't have any service to send or receive post cards from foreign countries. Also couple of post cards sent by my friends from Europe never reached me. 

 But then I got into Postcrossing.com an on-line community through which people send post cards to random members in other countries. It was a very interesting project and I was very surprised to see some Indian users who have received and sent hundreds of post cards. 

 Some how I managed to get in contact with few users and all confirmed that we can send a post card abroad from India Post. 

 It only costs Rs.12/- for a standard post card. 

 It's known as 'Air Mail Post Card'. 

 Indian users in PostCrossing informed me that close to 90% of post cards are delivered successfully. I was very happy to hear this. 

 Very soon I am going to send a set of picture post cards to my friends abroad and lets hope all of them will be delivered. 
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Thursday, March 8, 2012

India Post Holidays 2012

Post Offices will be closed on below days in 2012
No.
Holiday
Date
Day
1
 REPUBLIC DAY
 26-01-2012
 Thursday
2
 PROPHET MOHAMMAD'S BIRTHDAY (ID-E-MILAD)
 05-02-2012
 Sunday
3
 MAHAVIR JAYANTI
 05-04-2012
 Thursday
4
 GOOD FRIDAY
 06-04-2012
 Friday
5
 BUDDHA PURNIMA
 06-05-2012
 Sunday
6
 INDEPENDENCE DAY
 15-08-2012
 Wednesday
7
 IDU-UL-FITR
 20-08-2012
 Monday
8
 MAHATMA GANDHI'S BIRTHDAY
 02-10-2012
 Tuesday
9
 DUSSEHRA (VIJAYA DASHAMI)
 24-10-2012
 Wednesday
10
 IDU-UL-ZUHA (BAKRID)
 27-10-2012
 Saturday
11
 DIWALI (DEEPAVALI)
 13-11-2012
 Tuesday
12
 MUHARRAM
 25-11-2012
 Sunday
13
 GURUNANAK'S BIRTHDAY
 28-11-2012
 Wednesday
14
 CHRISTMAS
 25-12-2012
 Tuesday
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Monday, February 27, 2012

Domestic Parcel - EPP/Reg Parcel

Many of us sometimes need to send a package which is heavier than letters. 

 We have 2 options
-> Express Parcel Post
-> Registered Post - Parcel

 Express Parcel Post is the most efficient, affordable option. But this facility is not available in every post office. In such case, you will have to choose 'Registered Post - Parcel'.

 Express Parcel Post

 It is the ideal service for sending parcels within India. Price is affordable and you can track the movement of the parcel on the Internet, just like speed post. You can also avail VPP (Cash on Delivery) option. 

 Rate Structure:
Distance Category
Rate upto 2 Kg.
INR
For every additional KG
INR
Local
35
5
Upto 500 Kms
50
8
501-1000 Kms
60
12
1001-2000 Kms
70
25
Above 2000 Kms
90
35


Registered Post - Parcel

 This is the same as a Registered Post but since it is a Parcel the prices are lower. This is also a good option when you don't have Express Parcel Post service in nearby post office. 

 Click here to calculate postage price for a parcel
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Friday, February 24, 2012

Registered Post - International

Few years back my cousin wanted to send a gift to her friend in Singapore. She asked me to find a cheap and reliable courier option. I went through many famous courier company sites and all were quoting very high price. We went ahead with a company which was offering the lowest prices.


Later I came to know about post office International Registered Post. The shipping price was just 30% of what we paid for private courier.


If you want to send a letter or a document or a small gift abroad, India Post Registered Post is the best option. You can choose unregistered post, but the odds are that it probably will not reach its destination. 


In my experience, unregistered letters reached only Poland and the USA. Of course I also tried sending  such letters to few other countries but they never reached them. If you want to be sure that your letter or package is sent safely, spend a little more money on a registered post. Trust me, it's worth it. 


Cost of a Registered Post


A small letter around 30 grams would cost 80/-. Price increases based on the weight. 
You can calculate the postage rate here
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Value Payable Post (VPP) - How it works?

When I wanted to use this service, I couldn't find any proper piece of information about the procedure. 


This is generally used by companies which sell products based on "Cash on Delivery" method. Sometimes an individual who sells items on free classifieds uses this too. 

So now I will try to explain how it works:


Mr.John has some old antique coins which he wanted to sell. He posts a free ad in a classifieds website. Mr.Mark notices this ad and contacts John about the price. They both agree on a price,let's say 500 Rupees. Mark doesn't want to pay up front so he asks John to send a VPP for 500 rupees. 


John goes to the post office, fills VPP form, clearly mentions those details on the letter including VPP value (i.e, 500 rupees). John pays for the postage and takes the receipt. John has to make sure that the packing is firm and solid.


Then a postman delivers the VPP package to Mark and collects 5% extra from him for VPP charges. So Mark has to pay 525 rupees to the postman. In that way, a Postal Department takes this 5% of a given price as a charge for transferring money from Mark to John. Finally, John gets his 500 rupees. 

This is how VPP works. 
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Registered Post - Domestic

In my previous post, I explained the benefits of Speed Post. Registered Post is next suitable option for a safe delivery of your articles. I generally choose this one only when Speed Post is not available to the place where I am sending the letter. 


Registered Post simply means that your letter will be registered into the postal systems and a tracking ID will be provided. You can use this as a kind of a warranty, especially if the letter is not delivered to the destination. 


Tracking Registered Post - Domestic
No, it is not possible to track these on the Internet. Only Speed Post has such facility. In case an item is not delivered, we can raise a complaint using the registration number which we got while booking the letter. 



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Thursday, February 23, 2012

Speed Post - Best Domestic Postal Service





You need to send some letters within India? Want a cheap, fast and reliable service?  EMS Speed Post is the best option. 


Speed Post links more than 1200 towns in India, with 290 Speed Post Centres in the national network and around 1000 Speed Post Centres in the state network. It's very fast and the best feature of that is you can track it online. 


Click here to track speed post - domestic


Price Details of Speed Post


Local Speed Post @ INR 12

‘One India One Rate’ Speed Post @ INR  25
Weight
Local
Upto 200 km
201 to 1000 km
1001 to 2000 km
Above 2000 km
Upto 50 grams
INR  12*
INR  25*
INR  25*
INR  25*
INR  25*
51 to 200 grams
INR  20
INR  25
INR  30
INR  50
INR  60
201 to 500 grams
INR  20
INR  40
INR  45
INR  70
INR  80
Additional 500 grams or part thereof
INR  5
INR  7.50
INR  15
INR  30
INR  40
* includes services tax and education cess

You can also calculate the price here



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International Post cards/Unregistered Posts to India

Post Cards
--------------
I must say that its very unfortunate that the International post cards sent to India are NOT delivered. The worst part is that we have no idea why!! I don't even know where they get stuck. 


Collecting post cards is another popular hobby in various countries but as I said, they never reach India. 


Unregistered Post:
------------------------
Unregistered post is a normal letter with no registration number. So it means that you attach stamps and drop it. You have no proof that you sent it. Even these never reach India. 


I always advice people to send ONLY registered posts to India because we can track their movement online. 
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Postal websites of World countries


International Postal Administrations
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