BENGALURU: In a customer-friendly initiative that also helps reduce crowding at post offices, India Post has launched a doorstep service for the collection of postal articles. Customers need to book and pay the specified postal charges on the India Post portal, while the delivery staff will collect it at a time specified by the addressee.
The ‘Click ‘n’ Book’ service allows a customer to book up to five documents/parcels at a time with a pickup charge of Rs 50. The combined weight should not exceed 5 kg, while the total tariff needs to be less than Rs 500.
Assistant Director, Business Development and Mails, Karnataka Circle, S Annalakshmi said, “This is a value-addition service offered across India. In Karnataka, we launched it as a pilot in November 2023. Following its success, regular bookings commenced in December. The service is available in 133 pin codes in the state. So far, 104 articles have been booked.”
In Karnataka, Bengaluru has the maximum coverage with 96 pin codes offering the service. The service covers 19 areas in North Karnataka and 18 in South Karnataka.
“The service allows one to book Speed Post, registered documents and parcels online on our portal (https://www.indiapost.gov.in). Registration is mandatory before booking and payment needs to be done online,” she explained. The customer should note down the transaction ID of the booking on the left-side corner of the item. “After the article is collected by the postman and brought to the post office, the label containing the sender and addressee details will be printed and pasted on the cover,” the Assistant Director said.
The pickup slot available for the same day or the next working day will be listed online and customers can select a convenient time.
Asked what if the customer had assumed the wrong weight for the item and paid a lesser amount, Annalakshmi said, “The item would be weighed at the post office. We will alert the customer about the difference to be paid. It can be done online.”