Regulators
India Post launches ‘24 Speed Post’ for next day delivery in six cities
New service promises faster parcels with tracking, OTP delivery
NEW DELHI: India Post is set to introduce a faster mail service with the launch of 24 Speed Post, promising next day guaranteed delivery for urgent consignments in six major cities.
The service will be launched on 17 March by Jyotiraditya Scindia, union minister of communications, along with Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani, minister of state for communications, at an event in New Delhi.
In its first phase, the new service will operate across Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad, covering some of the country’s busiest commercial and logistics corridors.
The 24 Speed Post is designed for time sensitive shipments and offers assured next day delivery. It will be supported by dedicated processing windows and priority air transmission to ensure faster movement of parcels between cities.
Alongside this service, India Post will also offer 24 and 48 Speed Post options that guarantee delivery within one or two days respectively, giving businesses and individual users more flexibility depending on urgency.
The upgraded service comes with a host of technology driven features including OTP based secure delivery, end to end tracking with SMS alerts and a money back guarantee in case of delays.
Business customers will also have access to additional facilities such as buy now pay later billing, free pickup for bulk shipments, API integration and centralised billing systems.
With the launch, India Post aims to strengthen its premium express delivery offerings and compete more effectively in the fast growing logistics and quick delivery market.
Regulators
NCF fee sparks consumer backlash over TV pricing and access
84.7 percent oppose NCF on free channels, 57 percent report higher bills.
MUMBAI: For many viewers, the real drama on television may be the bill, not the show. A report by the Esya Centre has found that the Network Capacity Fee (NCF) is widely perceived as an unfair charge, shaping how consumers engage with television services in India. While television itself continues to score well with audiences around 70 percent of respondents reported satisfaction with content quality, the dissatisfaction lies squarely with pricing. As many as 84.7 percent of respondents said they were unhappy paying the NCF for free-to-air channels, highlighting a disconnect between cost and perceived value.
Introduced at Rs 130 for access to a base set of channels, the NCF was later deregulated, allowing distributors to set it independently under the framework of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). The study argues that such fixed charges, especially when increased without corresponding service improvements, tend to reduce consumer welfare rather than enhance efficiency.
The numbers underline the frustration. Around 68 percent of respondents said they do not understand how the NCF is calculated, while 94 percent consider it unfair. More than half 57 percent reported higher monthly expenses under the current pricing system, and a striking 96 percent said they would be more satisfied if the existing framework were removed.
Rather than being seen as a value-linked service fee, the NCF is widely viewed as a mandatory “access toll”, a cost consumers must bear simply to enter the television ecosystem. The report notes that viewers do not associate the fee with better service quality or greater choice, reinforcing the perception that it adds cost without adding value.
This has broader implications for market participation. Fixed charges like the NCF, the study suggests, influence whether consumers subscribe at all. When such costs rise, users are more likely to opt out rather than adjust their viewing habits, potentially shrinking the market.
In effect, the current pricing design appears to redistribute value within the system rather than improve it for consumers. The findings point to a growing sentiment that the NCF is less about enabling access and more about shaping it, often at the viewer’s expense.
