GS Paper II
News Excerpt:
The Post Office Act, 2023 has come into force on June 18.
Highlights of the Act
- The Act replaces the Indian Post Office Act, 1898. The Act regulates India Post, a departmental undertaking of the central government.
- The government will not have exclusive privilege over conveying letters. Services to be provided by India Post will be prescribed under Rules.
- The Director General of Postal Services will be appointed to head India Post. He will have powers to make regulations on various matters including tariffs for services and supply of postage stamps.
- India Post will not incur any liability with regard to its services, except any liability prescribed through Rules.
Objective of New Act
- The Act aims to modernize the laws related to the Indian Post Office, reflecting its expanded role beyond mail delivery to various citizen-centric services.
- The new Act provides a framework for prescribing standards for addressing of items, address identifiers and usage of postcodes.
Authority to Intercept Items
- Section 9 of the Act empowers the Centre to authorize any officer to intercept, open, or detain any item for reasons including state security, foreign relations, public order, emergencies, public safety, or legal contraventions without issuing any written order.
- It also allows handing over items suspected to contain prohibited materials or liable for customs duty to the authorities.
Penalty and Offense Removal
- The Act eliminates all penalties and offenses from the 1898 Act, such as those for official misconduct, fraud, and theft.
- However, it mandates that unpaid postal service charges can be recovered as arrears of land revenue.
Removal of Exclusivity
- The Act abolishes Section 4 of the 1898 Act, which granted the Centre exclusive privilege to convey letters by post.
- This exclusivity had effectively ended with the rise of private courier services in the 1980s.
- The new Act regulates private courier services for the first time, allowing the interception and detention of any postal article, not just letters.
Criticism of the Post Office Act
- Indian Post is exempt from liability under the New Post Office Act and Consumer Protection Act, 2019, whereas private couriers are liable under the Consumer Protection Act.
- The Act does not specify procedural safeguards for interception of articles transmitted through India Post.
- Lack of safeguards may violate freedom of speech and expression, and the right to privacy of individuals.
- The grounds for interception include ‘emergency’, which may be beyond reasonable restrictions under the Constitution.
- The Act exempts India Post from liability for lapses in postal services. Liability may be prescribed through Rules by the central government, which also administers India Post. This may lead to conflict of interest.
- The Act does not specify any offenses and penalties. For instance, there are no consequences for unauthorized opening of postal articles by a postal officer. This may have adverse implications for the right to privacy of consumers.
