They are discontinuing Registered Post

For decades, Registered Post has been the backbone of India Post’s service model—affordable, reliable, and legally recognized. Now, with India Post moving towards phasing it out in favour of Speed Post, students stand to lose the most. India Post is using social media to propogate a false narrative that Registered Post is merely being merged into SPEED Post but that is a lie.

Registered Post as a service is cheap. It is economical and people who use it are people who want affordable service. Speed Post is an expensive service equal to or in some cases more expensive than private couriers. By discontinuing Registered Post, India Post is forcing citizens to use the Expensive SPEED POST.

India Post is peddling a different untrue narrative on social media which is conveniently hiding the fact that costs for citizens are going to go up 2-20x.

A Tale of Two Shipments

In 2020, I sent academic documents to NAIT (Northern Alberta Institute of Technology), Edmonton, Canada through Registered Post. The cost? Just ₹122.

Only a year later, in 2021, I had to send documents to WES (World Education Services), New York, USA. This time, the post office guided me towards Speed Post even though I did not prefer it. The cost? A staggering ₹1,850.

The difference is not a matter of convenience—it’s a 15x increase for essentially the same service. Yes, Speed Post goes a little faster but Registered Post is not that slow either.

I felt cheated after paying Rs 1850, but now, every day, students will be forced to use an expensive service.

I understand that everyone is not going to send post abroad everyday, but even the local costs are going up.

Speed Post costs about Rs 41 for outstation shipments and Registered Post costs only Rs 25.

Cost Comparison – Domestic & International

Why This Matters

Students, research scholars, and applicants abroad routinely rely on India Post for:

• RTI applications
• University transcripts and legal documents

Phasing out Registered Post removes a low-cost option and forces users into a profit-driven model.

In the UK, after sustaining losses for quite a while, the goverment decided to privatise Royal Mail which is the Postal Service in the UK. The service started performing worse than how it was performing when it was with the British Government.

Privatising India Post is impossible in India because of the lakhs of employees and Art 310, however, the attitude of the government seems to be to allow India Post to bleed by a thousand cuts.

Instead of working on increasing the efficiency of the service which would bolster usage, India Post has decided to discontinue RPAD. If you go to most post offices, you don't even get any Acknowledgment cards anymore, they give you a post card and ask you to fill it out so that it comes back to you ask an acknowledgement.

Efficiency vs. Accessibility

Even with higher costs, I have my doubts that service standards will increase. Unlike most other people my age, I actually have a lot of faith in the Postal Department of India. I use SPEED and Registered Post frequently and I am interested in my tax money being put to good use.

Private couriers already offer faster service windows and more flexible operating hours. You can conveniently ship something from a courier around 8pm as well and have it be delivered the next day but most post offices are not even open at 8pm.

Post offices, in contrast close early:

• Counters at Sub Offices (90% of Post Offices are sub offices) often close by 3:00–3:30 p.m.
• Head Post Offices may run till 6:00 p.m.
• Hyderabad has just one 24-hour counter at Begumpet Airport, and even it stops dispatch acceptance around midnight.

There is little chance that operating hours will expand to meet demand considering the unions and the bureacracy of India Post.

Legal Complications

Certain Acts and legislations in India explicitly require Registered Post with Acknowledgement Due (AD). If Registered Post is discontinued, those provisions will need formal legal amendments—a process that is anything but quick. Civil Procedure Code explicitly mentions Registered Post Acknowledgment Due. The same is mentioned in many other legislations as well.

I haven't heard any such action being taken yet by any Ministry. This may be a reason to postpone the Sep 1st 2025 deadline to phase out RPAD but it is a wait and watch episode.

Government is the largest customer of Registered Post

I routinely file RTIs (online and offline) for 1516. When it comes to online RTIs, I often receive responses both online and offline by RPAD. The respective government department is actually paying around Rs 35-36 including all charges to send me these shipments. All these charges are going to rise for these respective departments.

Who is going to foot the bill for this? It is you. The citizen. It is you and me that is going to foot this extra bill in terms of higher taxes, or higher service fees.

This is a battle lost by the citizen.

Conclusion

Discontinuing Registered Post is not modernisation—it’s a step backwards. Students will bear the brunt through exorbitant costs for sending vital documents abroad. India Post should strengthen its unique service commitments instead of abandoning them in the pursuit of profit.

I am of the view that Registered Post must continue to exist as a separate service keeping in view the service oriented motive. The poorest of the poor would need Registered Post the most and it is them who are going to be impacted. The rich don't care and government departments who use Registered Post don't mind because they will pass on the cost to the citizens either directly or indirectly.