Not sure how many of you have used Speed Post service of our humble Post office. Let me tell you that I have been at the receiving end of it (in a good way!) and found it very very impressive. Apart from the minimum cost they provide you with a tracking service that is updated very impressively. Even for above 2000 km distance, the cost for an item less than 50 grams is just 25 rupees, including service tax and everything else. This is awesome, considering that the tracking it gives you lets you know exactly when the item will reach there.
I have seen the tracking system being updated at midnight, early morning hours etc. So it is not that after the Post Office closes at 5 PM everything ends. There are back-end people working very hard to get your items to the right place. Besides, their website is always up and available.
Just a little warning is once you come out of the post office after sending your speedpost, it takes a while to get updated in the system. Typically about 8 hours. Please keep this in mind. Annoying little thing, but once updated, it works like a charm! This is mostly the case with smaller cities where somehow they cannot upload the data into their database fast enough. In bigger cities, it seems to vary. I have cases where it got updated in even 20 minutes!
I know many dealers who sent their paper items only through speedpost for its accuracy and non-tampering. They swear by it and now I do too!!
They have left no stone unturned. They have separate email ids and telephone numbers for complaints on national/ international services. This includes complaints you can raise if the "tracking" does not work. This is very impressive, no doubt.
Typically I find the speed very acceptable. Delhi to Bangalore is about 48 hours, if you post in the morning. Pune to Bangalore takes the same, Chennai bangalore just about the same. Earlier, there used to be only one delivery by the postman. But now if you get a speedpost article, it will be delivered separately at 3 PM if it is not delivered already in the morning. This is exactly the meaning of "speed" post. Remember, only speed post articles are delivered like this, not regular letters or registered letters. This shows their commitment to this premium service.
England had this concept many years ago when first class mail used to have a separate delivery but now they stopped it. Thankfully we are starting to implement their best practices! I am not a government employee to say good things about everything the Govt. does. But in this instance I must admit they have the job done very well indeed.
Yes, there is an issue of postman being rude/ late etc, and that definitely needs to be taken care of. But my feeling is, seeing their attitude, the department has done something to inculcate the feeling of commitment even at the last mile (post man).
India Post has their own aircraft and it is no wonder they are doing things very systematically. I would say that the postal department has really grown and become competitive.
I will very strongly recommend speedpost to anyone! Absolutely no questions about it.