Summary of this article
The India Post launches '24 Speed Post', '24 Speed Post Parcel', '48 Speed Post' services.
These services guarantee time-bound delivery even on Sundays and other holidays.
The service starts in 6 major cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, etc., with a money-back guarantee for delays.
The Department of Posts launched three new Speed Post-related services on March 17, 2026. The newly launched services: ‘24 Speed Post’, ‘24 Speed Post Parcel’, and ‘48 Speed Post’ are aimed at offering faster, time-bound, and guaranteed delivery of speed post packages. The services will be implemented in phases, starting with six major cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad, in the first phase.
According to the government statement, these three premium speed post services are aimed at offering services for ‘urgent and time-sensitive’ consignments, which will be delivered even on Sundays and other holidays.
• 24 Speed Post – Delivery within 24 hours. This ensures a guaranteed delivery on the next day (D+1)
• 48 Speed Post - Delivery within 48 hours. It means a guaranteed delivery on the second day (D+2)
• 24 Speed Post Parcel - Delivery within 24 hours for the parcels.
Speed Post Service Since 1986
India Post has been providing the Speed Post service since August 1, 1986, when it launched to offer time-bound and secure delivery of letters and parcels. However, after the entry of courier companies in the market, people shifted to them for their services and easy tracking. However, lately, the Department of Posts has been taking measures to make India Post’s service more relevant for the current time.
Service Delivery Upgrade
It introduced some significant changes in its speed post service, effective October 1, 2025. The changes included delivery only after OTP verification, online booking to dispatch a parcel, online payment facility to book a speed post, SMS-based delivery notifications, real-time tracking of delivery packages, and a registration facility to ensure addressee-specific delivery.
While bringing the changes in its decades-old speed post delivery system, the Department revised the charges (tariffs).
Here is the detail:
Source: PIB; GST will be additional as applicable
For specialised services, such as OTP-based delivery, there are additional charges, Rs 5 along with the applicable GST, but there is a discount for students and for those booking a bulk order.
Features Of The New Services
The latest three premium services will also be offered with features, such as OTP-based delivery, Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) facility for business customers, SMS alerts, end-to-end tracking, free pickup for bulk bookings, centralised billing, and most importantly, a money-back guarantee in case of delay. However, there is no clarification about any change in the charge structure.
Users can send a package with a minimum weight of 50 grams under ’24 Speed Post’ and a minimum of 500 grams under ’24 Speed Post Parcel’ service.
