Snail mail check: How many letters does the post office still deliver?

Millions of parcels, packages still go through it daily as the dept's finances dwindle

Nearly two million postcards and eight million letters pass through India’s post offices daily, email and the Internet notwithstanding.

Snail mail is not picking up speed though. The postal department’s numbers are declining even as the government works on a new legislation, shows data Business Standard collated from the department’s annual reports in the last decade.

The Post Office Bill, 2023, introduced in Parliament on August 10, will replace the Indian Post Office Act, 1898.

The 2023 legislation does not retain the government’s exclusive rights to deliver letters. Much of existing postal mail is said to be official