Postal Manual Volume V : Notes for LGO/ PA/SA/ IPO/ Postal Exams
CHAPTER I – Definitions
➢ Postmaster-General – The Term ‘Postmaster-General’ means a Principal Chief PMG, Chief PMG, PMG, or a Director of Postal Services and includes any other officer exercising the powers of the PMG.
➢ Railway Mail Service – The Term Railway Mail Service means the service responsible for the carriage of mails by rail, road, river and air and for the collection and distribution of mails received from Post Offices/Mail Offices and sections.
➢ Superintendent – Superintendent of Post Offices is the Chief Officer in charge of a Postal Division and Superintendent of RMS is the Officer holding a similar position of a RMS Division. He is immediately subordinate to the Head of the Circle/Region.
➢ Head Office – A Head Office is the main office of a group Post Offices consisting of itself and a number of small offices called sub and branch offices which have been placed under its Accounts jurisdiction.
➢ General Post Office – The first-class Head Office situated at the Headquarters of the Head of a Circle or, where there are more than one such Head Office, the one attached to the Headquarters, is called General Post Office.
• First Class Head Offices under the control and supervision of Senior Time Scale Officer. He is called Chief Postmaster.
• Second Class Head Offices under the control and supervision of a Group ‘B’ Officer. He reports to Sr. Superintendent of Post Offices.
➢ Sub Post Office – A sub Post office is Post Office subordinate to and in account with a Head Office and its monetary transaction are incorporated in the accounts of the latter office.
• sub-office situated in a town or its suburbs where there is also a Head Office is termed a town sub-office.
➢ Branch Office – A Brach Office is a Post Office of lower status than a sub-office. It is in direct account with a Head or sub-office which is termed its accounts office
• A Branch Office situated in a town or its suburbs where there is also a Head Office is termed as town branch office.
➢ Transit Office – Any Post Office which is situated on a line of through mail communication, and receives and sorts bags intended for offices in advance, without opening them, is a transit office.
• The bags which are thus forwarded onwards unopened are termed forward bags.
• The use of a transit office is to reduce the number of loose bags.
➢ Transit Mail Office – A branch of RMS where closed bags are received and dispatched, sorting of letters is not done in this unit. Mail Agent or Mail Guard is in charge of this unit. This can function in number of sets depending upon requirements.
➢ CTMO – Computerized Transit Mail Office.
➢ Sorting Office – A Sorting Office may receive articles of all kinds in sorting. The use of a Sorting Office is:
(a) to simplify the work of sorting in other offices,
(b) to reduce the number of bags exchanged between Post Offices
(c) to reduce the weight of mails carried on mails lines.
➢ AMPC: Automatic Mail Processing Centers – In important cities where mail traffic is high, sorting machine have been provided which have high speed of sorting.
➢ Sorting sub-office – A sorting sub-office is a sub-office which is selected from its position at or near the junction of several mail lines, to serve as a Sorting Office for articles addressed to, or received from, offices to which the route lies through the sorting sub-office
. ➢ Nodal Post Office – In important cities and towns, some Post Offices are authorized to receive letters from neighboring Post Offices and sort the mail as per the sorting diagram given by the RMS Superintendents.
• The main moto is to reduce the peak hour pressure in the local sorting offices.
➢ Central Bagging Unit/ Kendriya Bagging Unit. – This Unit is a branch of RMS Office. Here the bundles prepared by the Post Offices/ Mail Offices grouped and enclosed in a direct bag. This is for only ‘L’ & ‘R’ Bags.
➢ Returned Letter Office – A Returned Letter Office {RLO} is established at the Headquarters of a Postal Circle and deals with unclaimed and refused articles and articles without addresses or with undecipherable or incomplete addresses.
➢ Transcription Centre – A transcription center is a cell established in a Sorting Office, situated normally at the Headquarters of the Circle or at any other convenient Sorting Office in the Circle. Transcription center transcribes into English the addresses written in regional languages on postal articles posted in Post or Mail Offices.
➢ Office of Exchange – A Post Office or Sorting Office or Section which exchanges mails with offices in foreign countries is known as an Office of Exchange.
➢ Office of Exchange of transit – An Office of Exchange on the border which only receives and dispatches closed bags addressed to or received from other offices of exchange in India is known as an “Office of Exchange of transit”. Such an office will not close bags for foreign countries or open inward foreign bags.
➢ Foreign Post Office – is an office of exchange in which the work of assessment of customs duty on foreign mails is also carried out. The work of actual assessment of duty is done only in the Foreign Post Offices.
➢ Sub-Foreign Post Office – is an office which is not an exchange office but in which the work of customs examination, assessment and accounting of customs duty is carried out. Such sub-Foreign Post Offices are opened mainly for the convenience of senders and addressees who may be required to present documents, etc., for the release or dispatch of their foreign articles.
➢ Transit Sections – Transit Sections are traveling offices of the Railway Mail Service working on Railway or river steamer lines. The officer-in-charge of a set of a transit section is called a Mail Guard or Mail Agent.
• Sections are numbered serially and designated by the name of the RMS Division followed by the Serial No.
➢ Mail Office – Mail Offices are stationary offices of the Railway Mail Service and are of two kinds,
1. Sorting Mail Offices: deals with the contents of mail bags addressed to them as well as with closed forward bags.
2. transit Mail Offices. deals only with closed bags.
➢ Corporate Mail Office or Bulk Mail Centre (CMO/BMO) – Corporate Mail Offices/Bulk Mail Centre’s are opened in big cities. Each bulk Mailer, i.e., a firm which is capable of posting of 5000 unregistered articles/250 registered articles at a time is identified a bulk mailer.
• These bulk mailers are supplied with customized sorting list. Bundles are prepared by the bulk mailers as per the customized sorting list.
• The details of bundles prepared are entered in one invoice which is prepared in duplicate and brought to Bulk Mail Centre.
➢ Mass mailing Centre (MMC) – In order to help the customers who are regularly posting maximum number of letters, Department of Posts started assistance centers which are called Mass Mailing Centers in bigger cities. For various pre-mailing activities purpose, Mass Mailing Centre may engage the assistance of college students, house-wives, pensioners, etc., on payment of some amount on hourly basis. To meet this expenditure, the customers will have to pay extra in addition to the postage as decided by the Department from time to time.
➢ Press Sorting Office (PSO) – This sorting office is situated on the premises of the Newspaper. The entire expenditure towards wages for the establishment is borne by the Newspaper publisher apart from providing required stationery for working the sorting office. This office works to suit the dispatch timing of the newspaper and closes direct letter bags to the Post Offices/sorting offices concerned which are dispatched through local regular sorting offices
➢ Head Record Office – It is a stationary office situated at the Headquarters of RMS Division which, in addition to the ordinary duties of a Record Office is entrusted, with the preparation salary and contingent bills for the entire Division and the accounts connected therewith is termed a Head Record Office. The official in- charge of a Head Record Office is designated a Head Record Officer.
➢ Sub-record office – A sub-record office is a stationary office of the Railway Mail Service, situated at the same station as a Mail Office, where the work- papers of the Mail Office as well as the sections, if any, attached to the Sub-Record Office are prepared, checked and place on record and by which all forms, bags and stationery required for the use of the Mail Office and the sections are supplied. The official in-charge of a Sub-Record Office is designated a Sub-Record Officer.
• A Sub- Record Officer may also work as Head Sorting Assistant or Sub-Sorting Assistant or Mail Agent.
➢ Record Office – A Record Office is a stationary office of the Railway Mail Service where the work-papers of the sections attached to it are prepared, checked and placed on record, and by which all forms, bags and stationery required for the use of those sections are supplied. The official in-charge of a Record Office is designated a Record Officer.
➢ Bag Office – For avoiding unnecessary movement of bags, the new system of bag accounting has been introduced classifying PO/RMS Office into Bag Office: the office handling it as under:-
1. Unit Bag Office (UBO) – Every Post Office other than Branch Post Offices and EDSOs is identified as Unit Bag Office. This office is given minimum/maximum bag balances once in a year by the Superintendent of Post Offices concerned preferably on 1st July. Each office will maintain a day bag book and submit a daily bag balance report to its District Bag Office.
2. District Bag Office (DBO) – Every HRO/SRO in RMS is identified as a District Bag Office. This Office will maintain bag account for all types of bags category wise not only in respect of bags received and dispatched by the Sorting Offices and TMOs attached too them but also in respect of UBO attached to them. In exceptional cases, Head Post Offices can also function as DBO.
3. Circle Bag Office (CBO) – The Postal Stores Depot situated at the Headquarters of Postal Circle is identified as Circle Bag Office. This office is responsible for inspection of DBOs and UBOs and verification of balances. This office is also responsible for procurement of bags, distribution of bags, repair and auction of bags.
4. Central Bag Office – ‘D’ Section of Postal Directorate works as Central Bag Office. This does not deal with any bags but only deals with the correspondence relating to procurement and distribution of bags.
➢ Sorting Assistant – The term Sorting Assistant is used to designate all officials in the Railway Mail Service other than Supervising Officers, Mail Guards and Class IV servants.
➢ Subsidiary Sorting Assistant – A Sorting Assistant who works with a Sorting Office over only a portion of its working hours to assist the set where the work is heavy is called a Subsidiary Sorting Assistant.
➢ Set of Section – The establishment of RMS Sorting Assistants which works together throughout the beat of the same section in both directions is termed a set of that particular section. Sets are numbered serially and are designated by their serial numbers preceded by the name of the section. Each set of the same section has the same working hours, same number of officials and the same mail exchange arrangement. The number of sets of a section are determined on the basis of weekly working hours.
➢ Set of a Mail Office – The establishment of RMS Sorting Assistants which is on duty at the same time in Mail Office is termed a set. The sets of Mail Offices are numbered in a consecutive series, immediately after zero hours.
• Unlike the sets of a section, each set of a Mail Office has different working hours, different mail and sorting pattern. The strength may also vary depending upon the volume of work.
➢ Trip – A journey performed by a set of a section traveling on duty from one end of its beat to the other is called a trip. The trip from the Headquarters of the set towards its out-station is called the Out-trip, while that towards its Headquarters is called the In-trip.
➢ Station articles – Station articles are articles intended for delivery from the Post Office to which they are sent but unpaid and insufficiently paid articles of the letter mail intended for delivery from sub and branch offices are, when sent to the Head Office or the sub-office, treated as station articles for the Head Office or the sub-office, as the case may be.
➢ Sorting articles – Sorting articles are articles that are to be sorted by the Post Office or mail Office to which they are sent, and forwarded thence to offices of final destination or to other Sorting Offices.
➢ Labelled bundle – A labelled bundle is a collection of faced unregistered articles of the letter mail securely tied with a check-slip at the top. It is treated in sorting as a single article, and is opened by the office or section to which it is addressed.
• Labelled bundles are of two classes, station bundles and sorting bundles: – 1. A station bundle contains station unregistered articles, and may be either a paid articles bundle, consisting of only paid articles, or an unpaid articles bundle consisting of only unpaid articles. Station bundles are prepared, ordinarily, when the number of articles – either paid or unpaid – for any office exceeds fourteen.
2. A sorting bundle contains both paid and unpaid unregistered articles which are not included in station bundles. Sorting bundles may be of two kinds, express bundles and deferred bundles. An express bundle contains articles which require to be sorted immediately on receipt by the Mail Office or Post Office to which they are consigned, and a deferred bundle contains articles which can be disposed of later. When a sorting bundle is prepared for a state, a clearly defined tract of country, or a foreign country, it is termed a territorial bundle. Territorial bundles are prepared when the number of artic les is and more.
3. Labelled bundles are not due.
➢ Pre-sorted bundles – These are received from the customers as well as from Post Offices. These should not be opened if they are station bundles and can be opened and sorted, only if they are sorting bundles.
➢ Check-slip – A check-slip is a label tied to the top of the labeled bundle: the from is printed on paper of different colors:
1. Pink for ordinary paid and unpaid bundles,
2. white for ordinary sorting bundles
3. blue with the words “Air Mail” for foreign air mail bundles.
4. The white check-slip is used for both express and deferred bundles, the slip being marked on the face with 2 diagonal lines in blue pencil, for express bundle.
5. The slip being marked on the face with 2 diagonal lines in green color for local articles.
6. yellow strip in corner for Rajdhani and blue strip in corner for Metro bundles.
• Every check-slip bears the name and date stamps of the office which prepares the bundle, the name of the office to which it is addressed and signature in – full of the officer by whom it is made up.
• Check-slips are designated to fix responsibility for the mis-sending of any article wrongly included in a labeled bundle.
➢ Money Order Check-slip – A check-slip (M.O. 70) printed in red ink on white or Badami paper is prescribed for use in preparing money orders bundles for dispatch to destination.
➢ Mail bags – (1) A mail bag is a bag containing unregistered and registered articles of the letter mail, letters, postcards, and book and pattern packets: and also, unregistered parcels, the registered articles being enclosed in a registered bag: but when a registered packet bag is prescribed, heavy registered packets, are dispatched inside the registered packet bag and not inside the mail bag.
• When parcel bags are not prescribed, mail bags may also contain articles of the parcel mail. There are three kinds of mail bags, station mail bags, sorting mail bags and combined mail bags, Mail Bags are due bags.
• Mail bags exchanged between a cash office and the sub-office which it finances will also contain inside the registered bag, a cash bag. These mail bags are denoted in the due mail lists of the cash office, of the sub-office and of the offices through which they transit by a distinguishing symbol “F”.
• In any case in which the Head of the Circle or the Heads of the Circles concerned consider it advantageous that the Registered bag should not be sent inside the mail bag, the Registered bag may be forwarded outside. All bags including those in the nature of ‘L’ bags should invariably be sealed.
➢ Airmail bag – A mail bag containing unregistered and registered articles to be carried by any air service under the All Up Scheme is called an airmail bag. The bag should not contain articles not intended to be carried by air. A blue dosuti bag should ordinarily be used for closing an airmail bag.
• If on any occasion there is no article for dispatch in a particular air mail bag, a bag with ‘nil’ contents need not be closed, but a suitable entry should be made in the delivery bill that no bag has been closed as there was no content.
• If the number of articles to be dispatched is less than fifty and there is also no insured article or air parcel for dispatch in an airmail bag, an airmail cover of suitable size should be used instead of a bag.
• When an air parcel is sent inside an airmail bag, the label of the bag should bear the superscription “C.A.P” to indicate that it contains air parcel.
• Registered articles should not be enclosed in a bag unless their number exceeds 25 or they are bulky or there are insured articles for dispatch. Whenever a bag is used for enclosing registered articles not exceeding 25 due to their bulk and unusual size, a remark should invariably be passed on the registered list to that effect.
• The weight of an air mail bag or air TB should not exceed 30 kg.
➢ Registered bundle – A registered bundle is a collection of faced, uninsured registered articles of the letter mail placed, together with a registered list, Registered bundles are not due, but are made up, ordinary, when the number of registered articles to be enclosed exceeds two or more they are treated in sorting as single registered articles.
➢ Registered bag – A registered bag contains cash bag, ordinary and V.P. registered letters and packets, insured envelopes, registered bundles, insured bundles, ordinary and V.P. money order bundles tied with a check-slip, and a registered list.
• The registered bag inside a mail bag indicated by symbol ‘P’ in the due mail list will also contain a cash bag.
• A registered bag is a due bag and must be prepared, together with a registered list, whether there is a cash bag or registered articles for dispatch or not.
• The registered list sent in registered bags which are prescribed to contain a cash bag must invariably bear, in addition to the Registration Date-Stamp impression, the impression of the treasury date-stamp of the office closing the bag, or in offices where there is no treasury date- 6 stamp, the round money order stamp of the Sub- Postmaster.
➢ Speed Post Bag – This bag contains Speed Post articles, Speed Post Money orders and a Speed Post list.
➢ Insured bundle – An insured bundle is a collection of insured letters enclosed, together with a registered list, in an insured envelope, or if necessary, in a dosuti bag. Insured bundles are not due, but are made up ordinarily, when the number of insured letters for dispatch to a Post Office is more than one they are treated in sorting as single insured envelopes. When the number of insured letters and Insured Bundles to be disposed of through a Mail Office is usually more than ten, a separate insured letter bag addressed to that mail office may be prescribed to be closed as a separate due bag. The insured letter bag should be dispatched inside the registered bag with suitable remarks in the registered list.
➢ Parcel bag -A parcel bag contains ordinary registered parcels, V.P. parcels and insured bags. It also contains a parcel list in which all the registered articles of the parcel mail are entered in detail. Parcel bags are not due bags, and when dispatched they are treated as unusual mails.
➢ Insured bag – An insured bag is intended to give cover to insured parcels (including insured V.P. parcels) so as to afford them greater security. Insured bags do not come under the category either of due or unusual bags nor do they contain any list of their contents, these being detailed in the ordinary parcel list. An insured bag is never dispatched loose, but is always enclosed in a parcel bag or mail bag. It is placed inside the parcel bag when a parcel bag is made up for the office or section to which it is addressed; when a parcel bag is not made up, it is placed inside the mail bag. However, in large parcel sorting offices, when insured parcel bags are closed separately, double canvas bags should be used for the purpose of ensuring security.
➢ Registered packet bag – A registered packet bag contains heavy registered packets and a registered list. Registered packet bags are prescribed when justified. They are treated as due mails and entered under the column for entries of mail bags in the mail list with the remarks ‘RP’ against the entry.
• When prescribed, they must be closed irrespective of the fact whether there are any registered packets or not. Such registered packet bags may also be closed, though not due, when the Registered packets intended for any office or section cannot, due to their bulky size, be included in the registered bag. In such cases, a remark ‘RP bag closed’ is to be given in the registered list of the due registered bag.
➢ Packet bag – Bags returned empty to UBO/DBO/CBO/PO or sacks containing such bags are treated as packet bags. Packet bags are not due bags and when dispatched they are treated as unusual mail.
➢ Transit bag – A transit bag is used to enclose several bags sent to the same office or section thereby affording protection to them, and securing the disposal in transit of only one bag in place of several.
• A transit bag must contain a mail list.
• Transit bags are due bags.
➢ Account bag – An account bag is used between a sub-office and its Head Office to enclose cash bags and articles, documents, etc., connected with accounts as well as correspondence unconnected with accounts, from the Head Office to one of its sub-offices and vice versa. When sent by the Head Office to the sub-office, it contains the S.O. slip and when sent by the sub-office to the Head Office, it contains the S.O. daily account. Account bags may be loose or enclosed in mail bags made up by Post Offices and Mail Offices. Account bags are due bags. They should contain all types of postal articles posted in SOs deliverable at HO and vice versa.
➢ Branch office bag – A branch office bag is used between a branch office and its account office to enclose cash bags and all articles, documents, etc., exchanged with the account office. Branch office bags may be sent loose or enclosed in mail bags made up by Post Offices and Mail Offices. Branch office bags are due bags.
➢ Cash bag – A cash bag is used to enclose remittances of cash between Post Offices. Cash bags are not due bags. They are ordinarily dispatched enclosed in account bags, registered bags, or branch office bags, but may also be sent loose in the charge of postman, village postman, overseer, or another subordinate.
➢ Special bag – A special bag is used to enclose correspondence of the high officers of Government mentioned in the Post Office Guide, Part-I, as entitled to the privilege, and the correspondence of the Director -General of Posts when on tour. A special bag contains unregistered and registered articles of the letter mail, the latter being tied in a separate bundle with the registered list in which they are entered placed on top. Special bags are not due bags, but when dispatched they are treated as unusual mails.
➢ Camp bag. – A camp bag is used to enclose the office files and other official papers, and is closed by the Secretariat or Headquarters offices of the high officers mentioned in Clause 198 of Post Office Guide, Part-I,. Camp bags are not due bags, but when dispatched, they are treated as unusual mails.
➢ Changing station – A Railway Station, where the beats of two transit sections join and where the mails brought by one of them are handed over to the other, is called a changing station.
➢ Connecting section – A connecting section is an RMS section working in a train in immediate connection with another train in which another RMS section works. If the interval between the arrival of one section and the departure of another is sufficient to connect bags being made up by a mail office at the junction station, the sections are not termed “connecting sections”.
➢ Overtime duty – The expression overtime duty means the duty performed under the orders of the Superintendent, Assistant Superintendent, Inspector or Record Officer by a Sorting Assistant, Mail Guard, Van-Peon, Porter, or other staff of the RMS after the completion of prescribed term of duty.
➢ Rest house – Rest-houses are houses or rooms provided at terminal or changing stations for the accommodation of Mail Agents, Mail Guards and Van Peons where absolutely necessary.
➢ Cage TB – When a lot of bags are available at distant places, Cage TB facility is utilized. Cage TB facility avoids unnecessary handling of bags by intermediate sections.
➢ Press packet – A press packet is a packet containing newspapers intended for sale by a news- agent recognized as such and marked for delivery from the Railway Mail Service van at the Railway station to which it is addressed.
➢ A Orders – A orders are orders issued by a Superintendent, RMS prescribing changes in sorting lists.
➢ B Orders – B orders are orders issued by a Superintendent, RMS for the guidance of the subordinates in the performance of their duties in Mail Offices on all subjects except alternations in sorting lists.
➢ TB Order – The letter ‘T’ will be prefixed to the letter ‘B’ in the case of ‘B’ orders issued in connection with the disposal of camp articles and camp bags for high officials on tour.
➢ Work-papers – The term work papers mean the documents received and dispatched by a set of a Transit Section or Mail Office as well as abstracts and other documents prepared by it while at work.
➢ Due Mail and Sorting List – The due mail list shows the details of bags to be received and dispatched by a Mail Office/ Transit Section. It will show: (a) in what cases mail lists are to be dispatched and received with loose bags
(b) transit bags are to be used
(c) account bags and B.O. bags are to be sent or received in mail bags,
(d) in the case of sub-office, the mail bags containing cash bags enclosed in Registered bags. The sorting list will show: (a) for what offices, mail bags and registered bags are to be made up (b) to what offices parcel mail articles may be sent direct and the manner in which they must be dispatched.
➢ Due mails and unusual mails – The term due mail comprises all the bags, articles and documents which must be dispatched every day or at regular intervals.
➢ The terms unusual mail comprises parcel bags, packet bas, special bags, camp bags, telegraph bags and any other bags not included in the term “due mail”.
➢ Face and facing – The face of an article is the side on which the address is written. The terms ‘facing’ means the arrangement of articles with the address-side upwards and the addresses turned in the same direction.
➢ Beat – The term beat used in relation to a RMS section means the portion of a Railway or Steamer line over which the section works.
➢ Camp correspondence – The expression camp correspondence means letters and other articles of correspondence addressed “camp” or with any other prescribed address, without the addition of the name of any post-town, and intended for high officers on tour.
➢ Late letters and too late letters – Late letters are letters presented at the window of a Post Office or Mail Office or posted in the letter box of a Mail Office after the prescribed hour of closing the mail but within the interval allowed for posting of such letters with the prescribed late fee affixed in addition to the postage. Too late letters are those posted within such interval but without having been fully prepaid with postage and late fee. These are stamped “Detained late fee not paid” and detained till the next dispatch.
➢ Mis-sent and mis-directed articles – A mis-sent article is an article which has been erroneously forwarded by an office to an office other than the office of destination or by a route other than the prescribed one. A mis -directed article is a vernacular article on which the incorrect destination has been written in English by the office of posting.
➢ Trial cards – Trial cards are service Post Cards [M 26 (a)] which are employed for the purpose of determining the relative advantage of alternative mail routes or the cause of detention to articles. A trial card contains on the back the following printed columns (1) Source of receipt (2) Remarks, misconnection (3) Manner of disposal, (4) Date stamp of the Office or Section, (5) Signature of Head Sorting Assistant/Postmaster/Supervisor.
CHAPTER 2 – MISCELLANEOUS RULES Mail and Sorting Departments
➢ Latest hours fixed for posting the mails – The latest hours of posting of mails at a Post Office or mail Office will be notified in connection with each dispatch in the notice of “latest hours of posting of mails” supplied to the office. In the case of night mails, the latest hours of posting will ordinarily be 6 p.m. and in the case of day mails, thirty minutes before the hour fixed for the closing of the mail at the Post Office. The hours of clearance of letter boxes placed at Railway stations where there are Mail Offices should, as far as possible, be fixed by Superintendents of RMS sometime after the hour fixed for clearance at the local Post Office. Mails which are to be forwarded by Railway should ordinarily reach the Railway station ten minutes before the arrival of the train by which they are to be sent.
➢ Posting of registered newspapers – The Head of the Division/Sr. Postmaster concerned is authorized to issue a license for posting of registered newspapers at specified Post Offices and RMS Offices without prepaying postage. Separate licenses are issued for posting to addresses within India and to address outside India. Copies of newspapers posted under this system should be checked at random to see that the following conditions are fulfilled: – a. That at least 100 copies are posted at a time b. Licence No. & Licenced to Post without pre-payment indications appear on each copy in the oblong space on the wrapper or below the registration number if the newspaper is posted without a wrapper.
• The copies of the newspapers will be handed over at the window along with an invoice in duplicate in the following from showing details of the posting. The original copy should be retained by the office of posting and the duplicate returned to the sender after it has been duly signed and date stamped.
• The amount of postage due on all posting will be adjusted twice a month, i.e., on the 16th for postings between the first and the 15th of the month, and 1st of the following month, in respect of the postings from the 16th to the end of the month.
• The office of posting should prepare fortnightly a bill in Form M.S. 98 for the posting during the periods Head Office and the Post Office where the bill in to be paid where necessary, and to the Audit Office to enable them to watch the credit. The payment of the bill will have to be affected by the Licensee, within seven days from the date of its presentation at the Post Office 10 indicated in the bill.
• The monthly statement in the Form M.S. 99 should be sent by the office of posting if it is a sub-office to its Head Office, and to the Audit Office on the 1st of every month.
➢ Machine-Franked Articles – Postage on postal articles under a license issued by the Head of the Circle, be paid by means of impressions of franking machines, which will be of a bright red color and be made as far as possible on the right -hand top corner of the address side of the postal article itself
• Machine franked articles can be posted at not more than two offices specified by the Head of the Division in the license. Where only one office of posting is desired, these must be handed in by a representative of the licensee at the counter of either the Post Office or the Mail Office or the night Post Office.
• The franked articles will be tendered at the counter bundled in separate bundles according to the value of the franks and each consignment must be accompanied by a Window Delivery Ticket for identification of the licensee’s representative.
• Machine-franked articles posted in letter-boxes should be treated as unpaid articles. Unregistered articles bearing impressions of the previous date should not also be accepted.
• In places where the authorized dealers have their own servicing centers with qualified and experienced staff, the repairs and servicing will be carried out at those centers in the presence of the postal officials deputed there for the purpose. In other places, the machines will be sent to the Post Office where the Daily Docket Register is maintained. The Post Office will remove the license die from the machine which will then be sent for repair, etc
• In all cases, the re-setting of The credit meters of the machines will be done at the Post Office.
• An advertisement may also appear alongside the date impression, provided that:
1. it is first approved by the Head of the Postal Division in which the machine is used;
2. it relates solely to the business or profession of the licensee;
3. it is quite separate from the impressions of the identification marks, license number, the date stamp and the postmark;
4. The licensee can get approval from the Head of the Postal Division for as many slogans and advertisements as he may desire, provided not more than one slogan or advertisement is used on the article.
• An account will be maintained in the Form M.S. 10 which, after the Accountant has signed the certificate, should be placed in the separate files for each machine.
• The Post Office seal for sealing franking machines must be kept by the Postmaster in his personal custody except in the General Post Office at Mumbai and Kolkata where it should be kept by the Dy. Director.
➢ Clearance of letter-boxes – The letter-box of a Post Office or Mail Office should be opened and cleared by the postal or Sorting Assistant, as the case may be, at convenient intervals during the day, so as to expedite the preparation of the mail for dispatch. The key of the letter-box must remain in the custody of that official during working hours.
• Articles posted in fixed outside letter-boxes should be brought to the Post Office immediately before the hour fixed for the final clearance of the office letter-box. The keys and changeable hour-pates must be kept in the custody of the Sorting Assistant during working hours.
➢ Clearance of letter-boxes at Railway stations – Letters posted without late fees in letter- boxes at railway stations at which mail office are not established should, whenever practicable, be cleared by the Mail Peon and handed over to the Transit Section.
• The keys and the changeable hour -plates of the letter-boxes concerned must be kept by the Sorting-Postal Assistant during working hours, but should be temporarily entrusted to the Mail Peon or other official appointed for the purpose of clearing the boxes. In RMS, the key should be in the custody of the Sorting Assistant concerned. (a) If the airmail articles do not bear the name and address of the sender or if these particulars cannot be easily ascertained, they should be dealt with as follows: –
(i) In the case of letters, postcards and aerogrammes, if the postage paid represents at least 75% of the surcharge (in the case of letters) or 50% of the combined charge (in the case of postcards and aerogrammes), as the case may be, the articles should be forwarded by air after being taxed for the deficiency. If the postage paid is less than 75% of the surcharge or 50% of the combined charge, the articles should be dispatched by surface mail.
(ii) In the case of articles other than letters, postcards and aerogrammes, if the amount prepaid represents at least 75% of the surcharge, they should be forwarded by air after being taxed with the deficiency. If the amount prepaid is less than 75% of the surcharge but not less than the postage required for forwarding by surface, the articles should be sent by surface mail. If the postage prepaid is less than either 75% of the surcharge or the surface postage rate, the articles should not be forwarded.
(iii) Greeting – These articles are treated as First Class mails in sorting. In greetings season, they are given air lift also without air surcharge. During non-seasonal period, they are sent by earliest available surface mode.
➢ Articles with undecipherable or incomplete address – Articles found in the course of sorting with destinations that are illegible or imperfect or written in an unknown character, or without envelopes or wrappers so that the destination cannot be ascertained, should be placed in the compartment of the sorting case labeled “Undecipherable”. When the sorting is competed, these articles should be examined and every endeavor should be made to decipher the addresses; if necessary, the assistance of other Assistants or Sorting Assistants should be obtained or the List of Indian Post Offices should be consulted.
➢ Preparation of labeled bundles – A labeled bundle should not normally contain more than 50 to 60 letters and postcards.
• Territorial Bundles should be prepared in the case of Foreign Air Mail articles when the number of articles for any country is not less than five.
➢ Bulk bag – The system of ‘Bulk bag’ is available for dispatch/receipt of special bags of printed papers to/from addressee/senders in foreign countries except Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and Pakistan. The salient features of the Bulk bag System are given below:-
• Printed papers for the same addressee at the same address may be enclosed in one or more special bags. Each bag shall weigh not less than 5 kgs and not more than 30 kgs. The bags shall be legibly addressed with rectangular labels not smaller than 125 x 60 mm. In size tied round the neck indicating the full name and address of the addressee and the weight of the bag including the contents.
• The application for the bulk bag facility should be made to the Head of the Circle through the Post Office where it is proposed to post such bags. The Head of the Circle will decide regarding the amount of security deposit to be kept in the Post Office depending upon the 12 approximate amount of postage payable in a month and the cost of one or more bags to be supplied at single posting. The sender of such bags will then deposit the amount in cash or in a Post Office Savings bank Security Deposit Account or in national Savings Certificate pledged to the • The licensee will hand over the bags to the Post Office with an invoice in duplicate in the prescribed form, one copy of which will be returned to him after due verification. On the basis of such invoices relating to a month, a bill will be sent to him on the 10th of each succeeding month which he has to settle within seven days of the date of receipt. In the event of the non- payment of the bill as aforesaid, his license shall be cancelled immediately and the amount due shall be recovered from his security deposit,
• If any dispute arises regarding the license, the matter shall be referred to the Director- General, Department of Posts, whose decision thereon shall be final.
• When a bulk bag is received from a foreign country to an addressee in India, the Postmaster of the Post Office or in-charge of the Mail Office shall send an intimation in the prescribed form duty complete d. The addressee or any other person authorized on his behalf shall produce a receipt duly signed at the Post Office and accept the bulk bags. He shall undertake to return the empty postal bags used for packing the bulk bags within three days from the date of their receipt.
• For each bulk bag exceeding 500 grms in weight, a Customs Clearance fee as prescribed in chargeable instead of a charge per item contained in the bag.
• an empty mail bag duly closed and sealed, and containing a registered bag must be dispatched.
➢ Plural mail bags – If, as an ordinary circumstance, the bulk of the correspondence for any office is more than a single mail bag can contain, the use of two or more mail bags will be ordered in the due mail list. In such cases, the mail bags should be numbered 1, 2 and so on.
➢ Extra mail bags – Whenever, owing to the unusual bulk of the correspondence to be dispatched to an office or section, it is necessary to use one or more bags in excess of the number entered in the due mail list, the words “Extra bag” should be written on the label of each additional mail bag. Extra bags should contain only unregistered articles, the registered bag being ordinarily placed in the usual due mail bag.
• When the weight of the registered bag to be included in the Air Mail bag exceeds the prescribed weight of 30kg, a separate registered bag containing only uninsured articles may be closed (for inclusion in the extra Air Mail bag). When this is done, an indication to the effect that the extra bag contains registered bag should be given on the due registered list enclosed in the due Air Mail bag.
➢ Mail Lists – The due mail list will show in what causes mail lists are to accompany transit and other loose bags dispatched or received. As a general rule, mail lists should accompany transit and other loose bags only when the due mails to be received or dispatched comprise more than one bag; but when transit bags are made up, mail lists of their contents must always be prepared and placed inside.
➢ No correction, may on any account be made in totals of the entries in mail list prepared; if an incorrect total has been entered, the list should be destroyed and a fresh one prepared.
➢ Mail list in normally prepared in duplicate. But when a non-postal agency is involved in transmission of mail, mail list is to be prepared in triplicate or quadruplicate depending on the number of agencies involved.
➢ Six copies of the inland air mail delivery bills M-57, M-57 (a), M-57 (b)] in respect of dispatch of air mail bags for each port of call of the air service should be prepared and signed by the Dispatching Officer. Four copies of the delivery bill should be handed over to the Agent or representative of the air carriers along with the mails and his receipt should be taken on the 13 office copy of the delivery bill which should be filed with the work-papers. The first copy of the delivery bill should send to the Air Mail Accounts Section of the Postal Directorate. The Air Carriers will hand over one copy of the delivery bill at destination along with the mails to the Postal Officer.
➢ Water-proof bags – (1) When the use of water-proof bags by a Post Office or for mails conveyed by boat or runners, during the rainy season, is ordered by the Superintendent, the Mail Assistant concerned will be responsible that such bags are used only during the period fixed. At the end of the rains, the bags should be kept in the office to which they were supplied, and not returned to the Stock Depot nor should they be used during the dry section except in wet weather.
➢ Water-proof bags are not supplied to the RMS but if such bags are received by a Transit Section or Mail Office from a Post Office, they should be utilized for the dispatch of return mails to that office.
➢ Immediate examination and verification of mails – The immediate examination of the mails received is the most important duty of the Mail Agent/Mail Guard. In Post Offices, the Mail Assistant and in sections and, in sections and mail offices, the Mail Agent or Guard or the Head Sorting Assistant or the Mail Sorting Assistant in sets in charge of a section guard Head Sorting Assistant, to whom the duty of receiving mails has been delegated must carefully and closely examine seal, cord, label and the condition of each bag and satisfy himself that the correct number of bags is received without any signs of damage or tampering. If a mail list accompanies a dispatch, the bags actually received should be compared with the entries in the mail list.
➢ Disposal of mail lists received – As soon as the mails received have been compared with the entries in the mail lists which accompany them, these documents must be signed by the Mail Assistant, mail Agent or Guard or Head Sorting Assistant or the Mail Sorting Assistant in sets in charge of a selection grade Head Sorting Assistant, to whom the duty of receiving mails has been delegated as the case may be.
REGISTRATION AND PARCEL DEPARTMENTS
➢ Registered and insured article addressed to foreign countries should be treated in the same way as inland articles of the same classes and forwarded to the office of foreign exchange concerned.
➢ Postal service registered articles– by cipher “O”, and the same mode for distinguishing these classes of articles should be adopted wherever the numbers are recorded.
➢ In the case of registered or insured bundles, the distinguishing letters “R.B.” or “I.B.” are used as part of the number.
➢ Number slips printed with names of offices of posting – When the number of articles of any class for which number slips are used, posted at an office, averages fifty a day or more, the name of the office will, under the orders of the Head of the Circle, be printed on the number slips for that particular class of articles supplied to the office, but not on any other number slips.
➢ Acknowledgements for registered articles and enquiries re -grading foreign registered articles of the letter mail and foreign parcels – If the sender of an uninsured registered article desires to obtain an acknowledgement of its delivery, he must affix postage stamps to the article in payment of the prescribed fee. The acknowledgement from filled in by the sender should be impressed with the name- stamp in the space provided for the purpose and the name of the office of destination should be clearly noted on it in ink below the word“Acknowledgement”. The entry regarding number ion the acknowledgment should in all cases be made in ink.
➢ An abbreviation “A.D.” should be written in bold letters in red ink on the face of the article and on the number slip. It should also be written across the receipt in the center and reproduced on the note of the receipt in the registered journal.
➢ Registered articles of the letter mail and parcels addressed to foreign countries for which acknowledgements of receipts are required by the sender should be marked on the face very clearly with the words “NOTICE OF RECEIPT” or stamped with the letter ‘AR’ completed by the mention “BY AIR” (by air) if the sender wants the article to be sent by air.
➢ The sender of a Foreign Registered Article can also express his desire to get back the Acknowledgement by air, provided that he pays the prescribed fee for the same. In that case, the words “RENVOI PAR AVION” (Return by Air Mail) should be written in bold letters on the front side of the acknowledgement form (C-5) and a blue “PAR AVOIN” (By Air) impression or label should also be affixed by the sender.
➢ A parcel list should be prepared every day for each Post Office, Mail Office to which the sorting list shows that parcel mail articles may be sent, whether there are parcel mail articles for dispatch or not. Blank parcel lists need not be prepared in duplicate. A note is to be made in the parcel abstract.
➢ The parcel list, with the acknowledgements attached should be placed with the parcels in the parcel bag which should then be labeled, closed and sealed with the parcel seal or, in offices where this seal is not supplied, with the date-seal. Parcel bags must always be closed and sealed in the presence and under the direct supervision of the Parcel Assistant or Parcel Sorting Assistant as the case may be, and he will be held responsible for the correctness of their contents. Parcel bags containing insured bags should be closed in the presence of the Postmaster or Head Sorting Assistant as the case may be, and sealed with his insurance seal. Parcel bags should be handed over under receipt to be taken in the parcel abstract to the Mail Assistant or Head Sorting Assistant.
➢ The Postmaster’s or Head Sorting Assistants personal duties prescribed in this rule may, under the orders of the Head of a Circle, be delegated to the Deputy Postmaster, Assistant Postmaster, Supervisor or Office Supervisor of the Office, as the case may be.
➢ Whenever there are 5 or more Registered/Insured parcels to a particular delivery PO, a direct parcel bag is to be closed. When all the parcels are addressed to the same addressee, three copies of the parcel lists are to be kept in the bag.
➢ Closing insured bag – When an insured bag is to be closed, the insured parcels for dispatch should, after entry on the issue side of the parcel abstract, be shown along with parcel list in which they are entered, to the Postmaster or Head Sorting Assistant as the case may be, who should sign both pencil and carbon copies of the list, separately, either in ink or blue pencil, and not by means of the carbonic process, the stamping being also done separately on both copies. The insured parcels should then be placed by the Parcel Assistant or Parcel Sorting Assistant himself in the insured bag in the presence of the Postmaster or Head Sorting Assistant who should satisfy himself that the parcels entered in the list have been actually placed in the bag.
➢ The insured bag should then and there be closed, sealed and labeled by the Parcel Assistant or Parcel Sorting Assistant in the presence of the Postmaster or Head Sorting Assistant. The name of the office of destination as indicated in the parcel sorting list should be written on the insured label and the weight (in grams) of the bag should be clearly noted thereon, in words and in kink, in the place provided as well as in the parcel abstract against the entry of the name of the Post Office or Transit Section to which the insured bag is dispatched.
➢ In no-delivery offices, which are not authorized to deliver from their window insured and V.P. articles exceeding the prescribed limits of value, the weight of the insured bag should be noted on the office copy of the parcel list dispatched
➢ In Sorting Mail Offices, the Registration/Parcel Sorting Assistant should maintain a check- sheet showing the numbers of Insured articles received. The Head Sorting Assistant’ Supervisors will tick off these entries in the check-sheet when insured articles bearing these numbers are actually dispatched after due verification. The check-sheet will be finally signed in fully by the Registration Sorting Assistant/Parcel Sorting Assistant and the Head Sorting Assistant or Supervisor as the case may be, and will form part of the work papers of the Set. The Head of a Circle may relax the provisions of this note in case of sets of Mail Offices for special reasons.
➢ Re-use of used up stamps and removal of stamps – the Registration and Parcel Assistant should examine all the articles received with a view to see whether any of the stamps borne on them has been either reused or removed. Examination for the re-use of used up stamps is specially necessary in the case of stamps of higher denominations. Suspected cases should be entered in Error Book or daily report and the brought to the notice of the Postmaster or Head Sorting Assistant for sending an error extract and taking further action. In respect of articles received from branch offices, the cases should be reported to the Sub-Divisional Inspectors concerned.
➢ Use of the term “Unpaid articles – Where the term “unpaid” is used in respect of a postal article, it includes “insufficiently paid” except where both the terms are used to differentiate one from the other. ➢ Book of postmarks – A book in the prescribed form MS-18 must kept in every Post Office, in each set of a Mail Office and Transit Section and in every record office in the which impressions of all the stamps and seals holding date or other movable type should be taken daily before they are brought into use.
➢ Cleaning of Seals and Stamps – All the stamps and seals in use in every Post Office, in each set of Mail Office and Transit Section and in every record, office must be cleansed first by boiling them in water and then washing them with kerosene oil and brush. This should be done at least once a month, but where the frequency of use of the stamps and seals is greater, it should be resorted to at more frequent intervals say once a fortnight or a week.
➢ Letter -boxes – Letter -boxes are provided at public thoroughfares and other central positions, and are intended for the reception of unregistered articles of the letter mail.
➢ Pillar and other fixed letter-boxes are cleared at intervals and, if outside the Post Office, their contents are brought in by letter-box peons or other subordinates; or, in the case of letter- boxes located at Railway station, which are cleared by mail peons, the contents are either brought to the Post Office or handed by the mail peons to the RJMS officials. All wall, and pillar letter-boxes are provided with movable hour plates.
➢ Letter-boxes at Railway stations and other letter-boxes in which for any special reason, it is not desirable that any articles other than letters should be posted, are marked “FOR LETTERS ONLY”.
➢ Officials not to affix postage stamps to articles – Officials of the Department are strictly prohibited from affixing postage stamps to letters, packets, or parcel mail articles brought to an office for dispatch; this must always be done by the sender of the article or his messenger.
➢ Stamps other than Indian stamps which cannot, under the rules, be recognized in payment of postage, should not be defaced.
➢ In the case of inward foreign articles of the letter mail, postage stamps which are not cancelled by the office of origin through error or oversight, should not be cancelled by impressing the date-stamp, but this should be cancelled by a thick stroke in ink or in indelible pencil by the office which detects this irregularity.
➢ Postcards should be impressed with the round obliterator only by the office of posting and the first office of delivery on the portion of the address-side reserved for the address of the recipient.
➢ Reply postcards should not be stamped on the unused portion when the two halves are posted together. But in the reply postcards for foreign countries, the date -stamps should be impressed on the left side of the reply half before the postcards are sent out for delivery.
➢ In the case of foreign articles in the form of cards redirected out of India, the date -stamp of the redirecting office should, however, be impressed on the front side of the article.
➢ Unregistered articles of the letter mail posted bearing no postage stamps should be impressed on the back with the date -stamp.
➢ Unpaid and insufficiently paid unregistered articles posted or received in sorting without having been taxed with postage should also be impressed on the face with the postage due stamp.
➢ In sub-offices, the date-stamp should be used in place of the deposit stamp.
➢ importance of proper stamping – The effectual defacement for postage stamps is of special importance, and to secure this, it is necessary that the postage stamps are defaced by means of a proper impression. Indistinct postmarks hinder the prosecution of enquiries in case of delay in the delivery of article; and imperfect defacement affords opportunities for fraud. Stamping ink of proper consistency must be used to ensure clear stamp- impressions.
➢ Branch offices in charge of extra-departmental agents who are not conversant with English or the language of the address should, consign the articles exclusively to their account offices where the addresses will be transcribed into English just as on articles posted in letter-boxes attached to it.
➢ Articles addressed in a language not known to the office of posting should be sent for transcription to the nearest transcription center in a paper cover or in a small bag bearing the superscription “For transcription”, if necessary.
➢ Foreign postage stamps on articles for dispatch on delivery – Postage stamps for foreign countries should not be recognized in payment of postage or other postal charges on articles posted in Indian Postal Offices, mail offices, sections or letter-boxes. If an article so posted bears only such stamps it should be treated as wholly unpaid, the stamps being ignored. The stamps, however, should not be defaced but a remark, drawing attention to the fact that they are those of a foreign country, should be written on the face article by the office of posting.
➢ Unpaid and insufficiently paid articles other than letters and postcards should be sent to the R.L.O.
➢ “Articles other than letters and postcards received in posting either entirely unpaid or the postage paid thereon neither represents at least 75% of the surcharge nor the postage required for forwarding by surface mail, should be sent to the Returned Letter Office in a separate bundle with a check-slip bearing an appropriate remark.”
➢ Unpaid and insufficiently prepaid letters and postcard letters and postcards and all other articles on which the changes paid represent at least 75% of the air surcharge payable thereon for the country of destination in question, should be disposed of as shown below:
➢ Articles other than postcards and aerogrammes paid for postage equal to at least 75% of the air surcharge or, in the case of postcards and aerogrammes, 50% of the combined charge should be forwarded by air after following the instructions or Rule 111-Abelow.
➢ Article bearing postcard less than 75% of the air surcharge or 50% of the combined charge, as the case may be, but not less than required to be paid for similar articles or the surface mail (aerogrammes being treated as letters), should be forwarded to the office of exchange concerned for onward transmission by surface route in a separate bundle after making an appropriate remark on the check-slip.
➢ Calculation of Deficiency of postage of foreign articles – The offices of exchange when required to forward unpaid or insufficiently paid articles either by air or by surface routes should impress on each such article with “T” stamp in the middle of the upper part of eh front side. By the side of the stamp impression, a small horizontal line should be drawn.
➢ Above the line, an amount equal to twice the amount of deficient postage in paise, should be written in a clearly legible manner. The amount of deficient postage should be calculated carefully after weighing the articles as also ascertaining its correct category and the changes due to be paid according to the current rates. Below the line, the postage charge in paise payable for letters of the first weight step should be indicated very clearly.
➢ Open and insecurely closed unpaid letters – Unpaid letters which are posted open or insecurely closed should not be sent to the R.L.O. but should be securely closed and forward to its destination.
➢ Unpaid articles addressed by the public to officials of the Department – Unpaid articles addressed to officials of the Indian Postal Department, as such, should be taxed with postage in the usual way, treated as refused and sent to R.L.O. for return to the sender and recovery from him of the amount of the postage due on them.
➢ Treatment of articles, the registration or insurance of which is compulsory – (1) If an article, the registration of which is compulsory but which has not been registered, is found in the course of sorting in a Post Office. Or Mail Office or received for delivery in a Post Office, the Assistant or Sorting Assistant detecting the irregularity should after nothing it in his Error 18 Book or notebook, as the case may require, show the article to the Postmaster or Head Sorting Assistant and then make it over to the official in charge of the registration or parcel department. In Post Offices and in Mail Offices, authorized to perform registration work, the article should be registered and, if the fee for registration has not been prepaid, a fee equal to double the deficiency in usual registration fee should be charged on it. The amount of the Fee PLUS any postage due on the article should be marked on its face below the registration No. slip and a note should be added under the signature of the Postmaster. Head Sorting Assistant or Mail Agent, as the case may be, explaining the reason for the charge. The usual receipt for the sender should be given to the Assistant or Sorting Assistant detecting the irregularity. In Post Offices, the receipt should be posted in the Error Book against the entry concerned, while in Mail Offices, it should be attached to the Head Sorting Assistant’s Mail Agent’s Daily Report.
➢ If an uninsured article passing through the post is found to contain coin, bullion, precious stones, jewels or other articles of value, the insurance of which is compulsory, the following procedure should be followed: – (a) If found in the office of posting, the article should be endorsed “Contains (coin, etc.)” and sent in a protecting cover or bag (i) to the R.L.O. for return to the sender in the case of a Post Office or (ii) to the Post Office of destination in the case of a Mail Office. If the article is not a registered article, the protecting cover or bag should, before dispatch, be registered on service or treated as s service registered article, as the case may require, in accordance with the procedure described in the preceding paragraph. • In sub-offices, such articles for the R.L.O> should be sent to the Head Office.
(b) If found in an intermediate office or section, the article should be forwarded by it in a protecting cover or bag addressed to the Postmaster of the office of destination after having a note recorded on it explaining why it is so sent. If the article is not a registered one, the protecting cover or bag should be treated in the manner laid down in the preceding clause.
(c) If found in the Post Office of delivery or received by it from another office or section, the article should be charged with a fee of two rupees and the amount of this fee PLUS any postage due on it should be marked in red ink on its face when a notice should be added under the Postmaster’s signature explaining the reason for the additional charge of two rupees. The article should then be delivered to the addressee with an intimation that no compensation would have been paid by the Post Office had the article been lost, damaged or tampered with in transit. If the article is refused by the addressee or if the addressee cannot be found, the fee should be recovered from the sender.
(d) The fee when recovered should be converted into postage stamps which should be affixed to the Error Book against the entry relating to the irregularity and then defaced with the date- stamp of the Post Office concerned. Articles marked “by parcel post”- (1) If an inland article marked “By parcel post” is found in a letter or packet box, the official detecting the irregularity should make a note of it in his Error Book or notebook, as the case may require.
➢ Air mail correspondence posted on ships – Articles posted on board a ship will be forwarded by surface routes.
➢ Facing articles – With a view to facilitate the handling of unregistered articles of the letter mail, they should be faced before they are stamped, sorted, distributed to the Postmen for delivery, or made up into labeled bundles for dispatch. When labeled bundles are untied, care should be taken not to disturb the facing done by the office which made up the bundles.
➢ Articles prohibited from transmission by inland post – When there is good reason to suppose that an article passing through the post contains any goods the transmission of which through the inland post is prohibited by the rules, the article should be detained and an immediate report submitted to the Head of the Circle or Region or the case may be.
➢ If an inland registered article is found in a Mail Office after having been accepted for dispatch to contain gold coin or gold bullion or both exceeding he prescribed limit of Rs. 1,00,000, it should be endorsed “contains gold exceeding prescribed limit ”under the initial of the Head Sorting Assistant or Mail Agent and sent for disposal to the Circle R.L.O. enclosed in a protecting cover.
➢ All official letters other than parcels posted at Army Post Offices to any address within the country are entitled to fee transmission, provided they are franked by an officer or APO and bears the superscription “Free on active sservice of FOAS”.
➢ Correction of documents – In the event of an error in a mail-list, registered list, parcel list, daily account S.P. slip, or any other document to be placed on record, the documents should not be returned to the issuing office for correction, except under the orders of the Head of the Circle or Superintendent. If necessary, a copy of the documents may be prepared and sent to the office concerned, or a revised document may be called for, or the correction may be carried out in the authority of a letter, provided that there is no special prohibition against doing so. In the last case, the letter of authority should be filed with the corrected document.
➢ When a revised or corrected document is received under this rule in substitution for the original, both should be retained on record, attached to each other, a note being added on the original above the signature of the Postmaster or the Record Assistant, as the case may be.
➢ Use of proper bags – It is the duty of the Postmaster or Head Sorting Assistant to see that bags of suitable sizes are used for each dispatch of mails. When required, extra bags should be used and if the use of “plural” bags would facilitate the conveyance of the mails, the matter should be brought to the notice of he officer by whom the due mail-lists are supplied.
➢ Manner of labeling, closing and sealing bags – In cases where sealing-wax is used, the cord should first be passed through the hole in the tag label to be attached to the bag, the two ends should then be brought together and the double cord tied in a loop-knot close up against the label. After this has been done, the bag should be tied with “clove hitch”
➢ Supply of stamped tag labels – Every Post Office and Record Office will be supplied periodically by the Post Offices and by the record offices of sections which receive mails from it with a sufficient number of tag labels impressed with the label name stamps of the Post Offices and sections in black stamping ink.
➢ Tin seal-holder – Tin seal-holders are used on all insured bags dispatched, and the head of the Circle will prescribe in what other cases such seal- holder should be used by offices and section to afford protection to wax seals on bags.
➢ Due dispatch of registered bags – registered bag should be placed in every mail bag dispatched, except “plural” and “extra” mail bags. Registered bags for dispatch should be handed by the Registration Assistant of Post Offices, and the Registration Sorting Assistant in Sorting Mail Offices, to the Sorting Assistant or Head Sorting Assistant as the case may be, who should examine the bags, grant receipt for them in the registered abstract and place each of them himself in the proper mail bag.
➢ Preparation and disposal of special bags and camp bags – If any orders received regarding special bag and camp bags in a Post Office of Mail Office the Postmaster or Head Sorting Assistant, as the case may be, should communicate them to the officials concerned and see that they are correctly understood and promptly carried out. Special bags will be delivered on all days including Sundays and Holidays.
➢ Limit of weight of mails – The weight to the carried by each letter mail runner on a main line 20 should not ordinarily exceed 14 kg: but in special localities where the country to be traversed is of a hilly or otherwise difficult nature, or where the speed of the mail is of importance, a lower limit may be fixed by the Head of Circle. (2) And the weight to be carried by each man should not exceed 28 kg. (3) The maximum limit of weight for a parcel bag conveyed by the Railway Mil Service is 37 kg. But a lower limit may be fixed in special cases by the Head of Circle. (4) The weight of postal articles including parcels and cash) to be carried by a Postman or a Village Postman should not exceed 10 kg.
➢ Supply of Due Mail and Sorting List – The due mail and sorting list consists of (i) the due mail-list of receipts and dispatch (ii) the letter mail sorting list and (iii) the registered and parcel mail sorting list, in three separate parts each of which can ordinarily be printed or prepared in manuscript as the case may require, on a single page of the prescribed form -the list for the Out and In trips of sections being kept separate. These lists are prepared and supplied as follows: – (a) For Post Offices and Mail Offices in communication with offices in more than one RMS Division – By the Head of the Circle.
(b) for Post Offices in direct communication with a Mail Office in one RMS Division only and all Mail Offices in a RMS Division in communication with the Mail Offices of the particular RMS Division itself – By the Superintendent RMS of the Division.
(c) All sub-offices and branch offices as are either transit offices except those in direct communication with RMS and for Transit Sections under the control of Superintendent of Post Offices – By the Superintendent of Post Offices in manuscript.
(d) Village sorting lists are prepared and supplied to Head, Sub and Branch Offices by the Sub-Divisional Inspectors.
(e) The due mail land sorting list should invariably be prepared on the standard form (M – 9).
(f) Changes in due Mail and Sorting lists – (1) The Head Postmaster or Record Assistant, as the case may be, should bring to the notice of the officer by whom the list was supplied, any alterations; (whether affecting his own office or an office or section) in sorting or transit arrangements that may appear to be necessary or desirable, Except in urgent cases, effect will be given to alterations in the mail and sorting lists from the beginning of a quarter.
➢ Examination and opening of bags – Every bag received in a Post Office, Mail Office or section from another office or section, or received in one department of an office from another, must be carefully examined to see that it is in good condition, that the cord with which it is tied is secure, that the seal or seals are of the office of dispatch and that the lock, if any, is intact and there is no sign of any of these having been damaged or tampered with.
➢ Treatment of mis-sent and mis-directed articles of the unregistered letter mail and labeled bundles – (1) When a mis-sent or mis-direct article is received in sorting, the Sorting Assistant or Assistant should preserve the check-slip of the bundle in which it was received and should make a note of the irregularity on the check-slip, in the Error Book or notebook, as the case may be and obtain the Postmaster’s or Head Sorting Assistant’s initials to the entry. He should also, in the case of mis-directed article, substitute neatly in English in red ink (of in blue pencil, in the case of RMS office), the correct name of the office of destination for the incorrect name. If the wrong vernacular entry was underlined by the office of posting, he should strike out the line and underline the correct entry, i.e., the entry of the office of destination in vernacular. The mis-sent or mis-direct article should be dispatched to its proper destination by first mail.
➢ Preservation of seals and bags – (1) When a loss occurs or is suspected, or a bag is received damaged, all seals and fastenings, envelopes and covers with seal, etc., should be carefully preserved in a tin case, and the facts noted in the Error Book. The tin box can be obtained or made locally, and the articles damaged would always be forwarded in the case when sent through the post, so as to prevent their being damaged in transit. The bags too should always be preserved,
➢ Record of irregularities – (1) Each Post Office and, in the large Post Offices, each department of the office should keep an Error Book in the prescribed form, while each Sorting Assistant in the RMS should keep a similar book called the rough notebook. Every irregularity, should be recorded at the time, as briefly as possible, special care being taken to bring to notice by this means, cases of mis-sending and mis-direction of articles.
➢ Applications for interception of letters.- Applications are sometimes made by the public for the interception of articles passing in sorting. The applications should, in such cases, be informed that, without the orders of the Head of the Circle,
➢ Director -General’s Circulars- (1) Circulars are ordinarily issued by the Director -General once of month, but if in any month there is no material for a circular, none is issued that month.
(2) Every circular issued from the Director-General’s office will bear a number from a consecutive annual series of number. Each item of the circular will bear in heavy type, at the upper; right hand corner, the name of the department which it concerns. Items which relate to miscellaneous matters, or which concern more than one department, will be headed “General File”.
(3) Each set of circulars should be kept in a Guard Book that for the Postmaster being inscribed “General File”.
➢ Postal notices and advertisements – (1) It is the duty of the Postmaster or the official in charge of a mail office to see that every postal notice received is affixed without delay to the notice board, and that, in the case of Post Offices, the spare copies (if any) received for circulation are circulated by the Postmen for the information of the public. It is also his duty to see that all notices and advertisements are removed directly when they become obsolete, and that any revised notices or advertisements received are at once substituted. The notice board, headed with the words “Postal Notices” should be hung in a conspicuous place in the verandah or outside the office, but in such a position that the notices will not be exposed to wind or rain.
(2) Revised editions of the Post Office Guide, Pt. I for sale to the public, will be received by Head Offices and selected sub-offices and Mail Offices from the Stock Depot accompanied with printed advertisements which should be affixed to the notice board.
➢ Explanation of rules and circulars – The Postmaster or Record Officer, as the case may be, must satisfy himself that the rules are understood by the officials of or attached to his office, and he is expected to take pains to instruct them regarding any points on which they are not clear, particularly when changes are ordered. On receipt of a circular, the Postmaster or Record Officer must explain its meaning to the officials mentioned above and then require each one of them to place his signature below the following certificate which should be written on the circular of it is not already printed thereon
➢ Production of records before Police or Excise Officer.- (1) Records of Post Office or Mail Office should be produced, and information available in them should be given on the written order of any Police Officer who is making an investigation in a cognizable case under the Criminal Procedure Code, or of any Excise officer empowered by a local Government or Administration to investigate offences punishable under any Excise Act, but only those entries in the records should be disclosed which relate to the person or persons charged with the offence under investigation or which are relevant to that offence.
➢ When the information asked for by a Police or an Excise Officer is not available in the records of the office concerned, he Police or Excise Officer should be informed accordingly, irrespective of the question whether the information, if available, might or might not be given.
➢ Half -yearly enumeration returns – (1) During the second week of he months of February and August of each year, i.e., from the 8th to the 21st, both days inclusive, an enumeration must be made daily by each Postmaster of the number of ordinary unregistered articles of the letter mail and unregistered parcel given out for delivery to the postmen and village postmen and from the window.
➢ Arrangement and inspection of records – The records of an office must be arranged systematically in almirahs or on shelves, the records of each class of business being kept separate. Books accounts, journals, bundles of lists, etc., should be labeled with the name of the month and year, and the almirahs or shelves containing them, with names of the books and documents which they hold.
➢ Office order-book – Every Post Office or Record Office must keep an order book in the prescribed form in which inspecting officers will record their remarks and orders.
➢ The Order Book must be kept in the personal custody of the Postmaster or Record Officer who should see that it does not get damaged. Each Order Book has 50, 100 or 200 serially numbered pages. The willful removal of a page from an Order Book will be regarded as a serious offence and render the offender liable to removal.
➢ The camp bag booked as parcel will be sent by surface route and will be charged with the postage payable on a parcel weighing 10 kgs plus registration fee and incidental charges as prescribed irrespective of the weight of the bag, subject to maximum of 10 kgs. The camp bag booked as air parcel will be charged with postage at air parcel, rate depending upon the weight of air parcel, with registration fee, and in addition with the prescribed incidental charges for special arrangements made by this Department. The camp bag booked as letter mail will not be charged with any additional postage other than Registration fee. All charges including incidental charges on camp bag booked as parcel or air parcel should be prepared in service postage stamps.
➢ Realization of Indian Post Office bag used for closing bulk bags booked in India – The offices of booking of bulk bags wile dispatching those bags towards the office of exchange should issue unusual bag invoices (Form No. Ms.76) to the offices of Exchange to which the bags are sent for onward transmission to the Foreign country of destination.
CHAPTER – 3 INVESTIGATIONS GENERAL RULES
These rules apply to both Postal and RMS Divisions.
➢ According to Rule 167 Only important cases to be reported.
➢ The Superintendent should immediately inform the Head of the Circle by telephone or fax in the cases of theft, loss, tampering, robbery and shocking reports of frauds and losses 23 involving Rs. 50,000 and above.
➢ Rule 171 relates to Criminal proceedings.
➢ In Rule 172 all criminal cases, the distinction between cognizable and non- cognizable offences should be carefully observed. all offences under the Post Office Act (except those under Section 52) are non-cognizable.
➢ In Rule 172-A cognizable cases, it should be remembered that, when information has once been given to the Police under Section 154 of the Criminal Procedure Code, the action to be taken in the matter will be controlled by the Police.
➢ In non-cognizable cases, an officer deputed by the Head of the Circle, or the Superintendent of Post Offices or Railway Mail Service, as the case may be, must take up the investigation with the least possible delay; but if it is necessary or advisable to obtain the aid of the Police, the facts should be placed in writing before the nearest Magistrate having jurisdiction, and he should be requested.
➢ Ordinarily, the latest date which the Magistrate is likely to fix for enquiring into the offences will be 14 days from the institution of the case. The officer conducting the prosecution should remember that though there may be several cases against the same accused person, he can at one trial be charged with three charges only of the same kind, and the three charges can be tried together only if the three offences were committed within a period of 12 months from the first to the last.
➢ Rule 172-C relates with employment of the Government pleader vary in different States.
➢ Action to be taken regarding absconders— Once a person has been proclaimed as an absconder by the State Police, action should be taken as per rule 19, Clause (ii) of CCS(CCA) Rules, 1965, mentioning “special procedure in certain cases”. Limits of Superintendent’s jurisdiction – As a General Rule, a Superintendent, when investigating a case of robbery, theft or fraud, should confine his own enquiries to the offices, or lines within his Division. Except under special circumstances, or with the permission of the Head of the Region/Circle, a Superintendent may not in the prosecution of an investigation, proceed outside the limits of his jurisdiction, or enter an office not under his control; but in emergent cases this may be done in anticipation of the permission of the Head of the Region/Circle.
➢ Rule 174 relates with submission of reports to the Head of the Region/Circle.
➢ A statement in the prescribed pro forma should be submitted to the Directorate by the 20th of the month following the month to which it relates in respect of all cases of loss of, damage to, or tampering with inland registered articles including insured articles and fraud, loss or misappropriation in respect of public money exceeding Rs. 50,000.
➢ 176-A—All cases of loss & fraud causing loss of Government property to the tune of Rs. 5,00,00 or above are to be reported to Police and FIRs lodged immediately by the Divisional Superintendents concerned. Proper reasons be given in writing cases where FIRs are not to be lodged.
➢ Delivery of damaged articles —When an article is received bearing signs of damage or tampering, in a Post Office, for delivery whether in a protecting bag or cover, or without protection, the Postmaster should carefully scrutinize and weigh the same and preserve the same in his personal custody. An intimation about the damage in Form R.P 63 should be served to the addressee. The article should be opened only after the addressee has signed the receipt.
➢ Complaints by addressees — If the addressee of a Registered Article/Speed Post article of the letter mail or of registered parcel which he knows or has reason to believe was posted, complaints of not having received it, the complainant should be asked to state the sender’s name and address and the probable date of posting. The complaint with the relevant particulars should be forwarded to the Superintendent for necessary action unless the article is posted in that office and the office has been authorized to deal with the complaints direct in which case immediate enquiries should be made to trace the missing article.
➢ Search Bills — The object of a search bill is to trace a bag or a value payable or insured article of mail during its course from the office of dispatch to the office of final destination.
➢ When the search bill is returned completed to the issuing officer, it should be filed with the copies of the remarks made by the officers through whose hands it passed.
➢ Loss of Government promissory notes — In the event of loss of Government promissory notes or any other form of Government security while passing through the post, the case should be investigated and in case the loss is established, the Reserve Bank of India, the Public Debt Office, Mumbai/Kolkata/Delhi/Chennai, as the case may be, will be addressed to ascertain whether the complainant is entitled to the note. Before the loss is advertised in three successive issues of the Gazette of India or the State Government Gazette (as the case may be)
CHAPTER 4 TRANSMISSIION OF MAILS UNDER THE WEIGHMENT SYSTEM
➢ Definition of weighment system—The weighment system is the system in force on Indian Railways, under which closed bags (mail, packet or transit) without limit of weight, are conveyed in luggage vans in the custody of Railway Guards. Payment for a regular daily service is made half-yearly, payment for occasional dispatches is made quarterly on presentation of bills supported by vouchers.
➢ Cases in which the weighment system may be adopted — The object of the weighment system is to provide a regular daily exchange of mails between offices served by unimportant Railway lines or where the mails are light, or between offices situated at stations at which the mail trains do not stop, or where it may be considered desirable to have an additional dispatch by a train other than the one conveying the regular mail.
➢ Definition of occasional dispatches—The system known as occasional dispatches is the system in force on Indian Railways under which the Post Office is empowered to forward mails by any train, even though such trains may not ordinarily be employed for the conveyance of mails. The provision of Rule 226 applies to these dispatches.
➢ Entries to be made in mail list — The dispatching office should prepare a mail list addressed to the stationmaster also detailing on the list all the bags (due and unusual) to be forwarded.
➢ Half-yearly weighment of bags—The mail handed over to the stationmaster on the 21st January, and the 21st July, of each year must be delivered by a responsible officer of the dispatching office after weighment in the presence of the stationmaster. The statement in Form No. M-105 should be prepared in quadruplicate by means of a carbon paper on the statement by the same process.
➢ Monthly list of requisitions —A monthly list of requisitions should be maintained by the dispatching office, and the entries in it should be filled up at a time the requisitions are prepared.
➢ Weekly Sorting Orders – All changes in the sorting arrangements of the Circle should be incorporated in a Sorting Order which should be issued weekly and numbered in a consecutive annual series commencing from 1st April each year.
➢ Air Mail Orders – Air Mail Orders are issued by the Head of the Circle whenever there are changes in the Air Mail arrangements. These orders are numbered in a consecutive annual series commencing from 1st April each year