Speed Post brings new life to Bangladesh Post Office

The familiar sight of people waiting at post offices with letters and envelopes is gradually giving way to a new scene — customers arriving with parcels of different shapes and sizes.

At Dhaka Sadar Post Office HQ in Banglabazar, customers bring household goods, cooking utensils, mattresses, gifts, wardrobes, chairs, drums, trunks, resin items, books, cosmetics and everyday essentials to send to different parts of the country.

Among them was Canat Costa, 45, a resident of Laxmibazar who has been running an online business for the past eight years. She regularly sends homemade dry-food items and other products to customers across Bangladesh.

“I used private couriers for years, and at that time I worried about whether the products would actually reach the customers. Now I don’t have that worry,” she told the Daily Sun.

Cost is another major reason behind her decision. “Sending products through Speed Post costs several times less than private courier services,” she said.

Costa said that she previously had to pay around Tk200 to send a five-litre gallon of cooking oil through a courier service.

“But I was able to send the same item through the post office for less than Tk40,” she said.

Her experience is shared by other customers, including students, who are increasingly turning to the service to send books, personal belongings and other goods to different parts of the country.

Jannat Sarkar, a housewife, said, “I did not know about the Speed Post service earlier. When I came to know about it, I started using it because it is much cheaper and safer than other services.”

For many small online entrepreneurs as well as general users, the nationwide reach of the postal network and relatively low delivery costs make Speed Post an appealing alternative to private courier services.

Speed Post’s low cost wins hearts

Mojammel Haque, assistant postmaster (APM) of Dhaka Sadar Post Office, told the Daily Sun that “We are getting a very good response from customers.”

The pricing structure is one of the major attractions of Speed Post. The service charges Tk 15 for the first kilogramme and Tk8 for each additional kilogramme, with the maximum charge capped at Tk247. An additional Tk2 is charged as an electronic service charge.

Nazrul Islam Sarkar, Inspector of Dhaka Sadar Post Office HQ, said that people are choosing this service because of its cheap rate and fast delivery with safety.

According to postal officials, parcels sent within Dhaka can generally be delivered within 24 hours, while deliveries to destinations outside Dhaka usually take around 48 hours. For remote areas outside Dhaka, the delivery time can extend to around 96 hours.

It is learnt that although the postal service was introduced in 2018, its effectiveness remained limited. The service was largely confined to the delivery of certain types of goods. However, Speed Post was relaunched as part of the current government’s 180-day priority programme.

The service initially received a strong response during the seasonal fruit season. Since then, the number of service users has been increasing gradually, according to officials concerned. In the past three to four months, the postal department has delivered around 810 tonnes of goods through Speed Post.

Md Zakir Hasan Noor, additional director general (Postal Service), said, “People want this kind of service. If the Post Office can provide it at a lower cost, it can create a service that people can rely on. I think this can help the Post Office turn around.”

Noor said that the demand for the service was increasing and that its expansion could ultimately benefit people, the government and different sectors.

However, the service still has some limitations. According to customers, parcels weighing more than 30 kilogrammes cannot be sent through Speed Post and home delivery is still unavailable.

Regarding this, Zakir Hasan Noor said that the weight limit was fixed considering the department’s capacity and other logistical facilities. “If a customer wants to send goods weighing more than 30 kilogrammes, we have to consider our capacity and other handling facilities,” he said.

Meanwhile, the postal department has launched a pilot project to introduce privately operated franchises for the home delivery of Speed Post consignments. Under the initiative, private franchise partners will provide home delivery services for Speed Post customers.

Noor said, “Through this, customers will be able to receive home delivery services by paying some additional charges on top of the postal department’s regular delivery cost.”