CHENNAI: The Department of Posts on Monday introduced a One India One Rate scheme, under which it will charge Rs. 25 for Speed Post articles weighing up to 50 grams, irrespective of the distance.

Launching the scheme, Union Minister of Communications and Information Technology Dayanidhi Maran said here that it would not apply to local Speed Post. Existing local rates that were comparatively lower (Rs.20 within Chennai) would continue.

Addressing the function, organised as part of the 20th anniversary celebrations of Speed Post, Mr. Maran said the One India One Rate scheme replaced the existing system where the tariff was calculated on the basis of the distance of the destination.

Customers could now use Speed Post to send articles to any nook and corner of the country at a common rate.

He said the department should launch more such beneficial schemes to stay competitive and record higher growth rates like the Departments of Information Technology and Telecom.

Some of the proposals on which it was working included delivery of Speed Post on the same day of the booking and launch of an air (cargo) service to the North-East.

While the growth of telecom services might have led to a reduced demand for the basic services offered by the Department of Posts, business post was on the rise. Speed Post alone generated Rs.400 crore revenue.

Attributing the strides made by the department to the efforts of its 4.5-crore strong workforce, Mr. Maran said post offices were on the way to becoming multipurpose centres offering a host of other services.

Member (Operations and Marketing) of the Postal Services Board Vatsala Raghu said some of the features of the Speed Post were round-the-clock booking, insurance cover up to Rs.1 lakh and volume discounts.

Chief General Manager (Business Development and Marketing Directorate) Raghav Lal said Personal Digital Assistants were to be used on an experimental basis in Chennai and Mumbai for improving the Speed Post service.

Chief Postmaster General of Tamilnadu Circle Radhika Doraiswamy described Speed Post as the most successful product.

Tamil Nadu Minister for Information Parithi Ilamvazhuthi, Labour Minister T.M. Anbarasan and MLA S.A. Raja offered felicitations.

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