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Our Bureau

Letters weighing up to 50 gm to cost Rs 25

New Delhi , Aug. 21

The Department of Posts has brought down Speed Post tariffs of letters weighing up to 50 gm by 50 per cent. Under the new scheme, consumers can send a letter weighing not more than 50 gm to anywhere in the country for Rs 25.

Until now, the postal department charged a flat rate of Rs 50 for any letter up to 200gm. The move is part of the `One India One Rate - Speed Post' plan announced by Mr Dayanidhi Maran, Minister of Communications and Information Technology.

The cut by DoP may give private courier companies such as BlazeFlash, DTDC and XPS a run for their money. Mr P C Sharma, CEO, XPS, however, downplayed the impact of the move. "There will not be much impact on our business because we already have a set client base who are looking beyond just lower tariffs." Courier companies charge between Rs 35 and Rs 80 for carrying a 50 gm letter within the country.

To implement the new scheme, India Post has introduced a new slab of 50 gm while most courier companies have 200 gm as the minimum. The rate is inclusive of service tax and educational cess, irrespective of the distance involved. However, the rates for local Speed Post remains unaltered. There is also no change in the tariffs for letters of higher weight category across various distance slabs prescribed by the DoP.

The new Speed Post tariff comes into effect from Monday.

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