State- level courier associations have decided to persuade the Members of Parliament in each district to oppose the proposed amendment to the Postal Act, which prohibits courier organisations to accept packets below three hundred grams weight, thereby compelling them to accept only big parcels.
"The Federation of Indian Courier Associations, which represents 80 per cent of the courier organisations in the country, has decided to oppose the amendment and persuade MPs in each district to oppose the amendment as it is against the interests of both the consumers and the courier organisations.
"The FICA is consulting legal experts for strategic legal action if the Union government insists on passing the amendment despite persuasive opposition by the MPs," said S K Patil, president of the Kolhapur district courier association.
"This restriction would curtail the businesses of small and medium courier organisations in the country with the result that nearly 20 lakh (2 million) people working in these organisations would face unemployment," he added.
Patil pointed out that 570 banks in the district relied on courier services to deliver cheques, amounting to a total of Rs 60 crore (Rs 600 million).
"The postal department would fail to provide such a service as it lacks both the manpower and the will to serve customers as per their expectations," said Patil.
"Besides, unless somebody opts for the high cost registered post, you don't even get a receipt to say that your parcel has been delivered," he pointed out.
About fifty courier organisations in the Kolhapur district are providing quick and reliable services to large number of rural and urban customers who are now solely dependent for their routine transactions on courier services.
The postal department lacks both the network and manpower to respond to customers' expectations says Patil.
