Until sometime ago, even the euphemism ‘snail mail’ would have failed to describe the painfully slow and listless movement of letters at the hands of a postal staff who disliked all notions of modernisation and efficiency. Delays in delivering letters and parcels, particularly posted inside the country, were phenomenal. However, all that seems to be changing, at least for the outbound mail. In fact the Express Mail Service has already emerged as a very reliable, efficient and satisfactory aspect of the postal service. Furthermore, any consignment delivered thro-ugh its Track and Trace System can now be tracked. Competition, no doubt, improves even the most lethargic of business entitites. That is what the competition offered by the private courier services, though for a hefty price, has done to the post office.

It is true that the advances in telecommunications have taken the work load off the post office, which, until then was the sole means of long distance communication. But when Lieutenant John Peter Boileau first posted a letter on April 11, 1816, at the British Residency in Kathmandu, he did not do it for the private courier service to cannibalise the venerated postal services at one point of time. Despite its long history, Nepal’s postal service has its own ills often created by the inefficient staff. While the Western postal systems were reformed to provide affordable, easy and reliable postal services, Nepal was slow to awaken to the need to streamline the sector and open other vistas as it is doing now. It is a welcome piece of news that it has finally done so and customers can soon rely on the post office to deliver goods and letters for a very affordable price. It ought to have emerged as a competitive organisation long ago by being customer-oriented instead of being content with printing colourful stamps for the philatelist, which should but be a secondary indulgence.

Now that the post office has awakened, there is no reason why it will not be edging out several couriers which have sky-high prices for the same services vis-a-vis the post office’s very reasonable rates. The success has already reflected on the parcel volume which has drastically increased over a year. But accountability remains key to the success of the Postal Services Department, a feature which several top-notch couriers were quick to capitalise early on. It is also to be welcomed that the the General Post Office plans to introduce automation, and enter into an agreement with postal guilds abroad to enable parcel tracking system. Business follows rules of competition, and only the finest in service survive the competition. Nepal’s post office cannot beg to differ. It is good, it has realised it, though late.