Speed Post is proving to be a misnomer. For, services in the city are running at a snail’s pace. On September 2, with the Department of Posts implementing an end-to-end IT modernisation project or core system integrator, Speed Post was the worst hit as it reflected delay of three to six days in delivering mails.
According to both Hyderabad and Secunderabad divisions of the postal service, which dealt with Speed Post services, the glitch is expected to last at least another week or so.
Officials of the postal department said the delay is the direct result of an upgrade in software and interface that records incoming and outgoing mails. While just 40% of post offices having upgraded to the new system introduced by Tata Consultancy Services, a majority is yet to do the same. This has resulted in post offices losing access to information about travelling path (tracking system) of each speed post coming into the city.
Deluge of mail
The Speed Post centre in Begumpet on September 7 had over 1,000 parcels which were yet to be delivered. Manager Ramana Reddy said most parcels were being moved manually even without the help of an online tracking system.
“It is impossible to find bags and sort them for delivery without even knowing whether they have reached Hyderabad. We were sorting each parcel without the help of online system because the website was down. Information uploaded by sender post offices were not reflecting in Hyderabad and vice-versa,” an officer said.
Rakhi parcels
Those at Hyderabad’s postal division office, however, pointed out that the delay increased only after Raksha Bandhan.
“There were many Rakhi parcels which were sent by Speed Post. The server was not able to process this influx of information and it slowed down. In Hyderabad, it was impossible to check speed post updates till September 7,” an officer said.
With the website slowing down, even delivery of speed posts to be sent from Hyderabad will be affected. “It will take at least four days for a parcel from the city to reach Bangalore by Speed Post now,” an officer said.
However, with the support of Chief Post Master General’s office, urgent queries of customers were sorted, an official informed.
“We tried to sort out issues by manual coordinating with Speed Post centres in different states. It was, however, difficult to sort out all problems in time,” the official admitted.
