SUBSIDY ON POSTAL SERVICES CAN BE REDUCED

Huge subsidy-bill of about rupees 5632 crores on postal services in the current fiscal can and should be substantially reduced for future by simple rationalisation of postal-tariffs without affecting much, users of postal services. Inland postal-tariffs should be generally in multiples of Rs 5. Since even beggars refuse to accept coins below Re 1, it is senseless to price highly subsidised Post Cards below Re 1. Printed or competition post-cards can have uniform tariff of Rs 5. Inland-Letter-Cards should be discontinued to bring down huge subsidy on these. Book-Post service is mostly used by affording ones to mail greeting-cards, and as such its minimum tariff should be marginally increased to that of first-class mail-tariff (presently Rs 5) so that commemorative stamps generally issued in tariffs of first-class mail-tariff may be used by users of Book-Post services even though its weight-slab may be kept at 50 gms when first-class mail has slab of 20 gms. Speed Post tariff should be uniform at rupees fifteen per 50 gms both for local and national mail abolishing present dual tariff of rupees twelve and twenty-five respectively.

Irrational and confusing foreign mail-tariffs should be revised in multiples of Rs 10 which should also be cost of an aerogramme by having equal tariff-rise for every 20 gms rise in weight slab for independently fixed air-mail tariffs unlike present system where air-mail tariffs are calculated by imposing air-mail surcharge for every 20 gms on haphazardly fixed sea-mail tariffs. Presently for example, Rs 712 is the air-mail tariff for an article of 1020 gms. But the same can be air-mailed in just Rs 469 if it is mailed in two parts of 1000 gms (Rs 454) and 20 gms (Rs 15). Added revenue can be achieved if air-mail tariff is Rs 20 for first 20 gms and Rs 10 for every additional 20 gms. Sea-mail tariffs may be rationalised for uniform tariff rise for every 20 or 100 gms weight-slabs.