India Post (the Department of Posts), with its network of 1,54,910 Post Offices, is the largest postal network in the world. The beginnings of this vast postal network can be traced back to the year 1727 when the first Post Office was set up in Kolkata. Subsequently, General Post Offices (GPOs) were also set up in the then three Presidencies of Kolkata (1774), Chennai (1786) and Mumbai (1793).

To bring some uniformity amongst the then Post Offices, the Indian Post Office Act 1837 was enacted. This Act was followed by the more comprehensive Indian Post Office Act 1854. This Act reformed the entire fabric of the postal system and its provisions granted the monopoly of carrying mail in the British territories in India to the Indian Post Office.

The present postal system in India thus came into existence with the Indian Post Office Act of 1854. In the same year, Railway Mail Service also introduced the sea mail service from India to Great Britain and China. Thereafter, the Indian Post Office Act 1898 was passed which regulated postal services in the country

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India Post Tracking

1. Goto the link: https://www.indiapost.gov.in/VAS/Pages/TrackConsignment.aspx
2. Type your consignment number.
3. Search and locate your India post delivery.

NOTE: To track speed posts (high-speed postal service), go to https://www.indiapost.gov.in/MBE/Pages/Content/Speed-Post.aspx

Here are some must-know facts about India post:

1. The government has decided to digitize 1.5 lakh post offices across the country, which includes 1.3 lakh post offices in rural areas.

2. One can buy an exclusive collection of postal stamps offered by India Post on e-commerce websites like Snapdeal and Shopclues. Philatelic products are also available at e-post office – an e-commerce portal of India Post. Through its e-commerce portal, India Post also provides select postal facilities using the web. The department has generated revenue of Rs 24.31 lakh between April 2015 and December 2015 by selling postal stamps.

3. India is one of the earliest active members of the Universal Postal Union (UPU), a specialized agency of the United Nations, having its headquarters at Berne, Switzerland.

4. There are more than 33.03 crore account holders of the savings scheme of the department.

5. The outstanding balance under all the savings schemes and saving certificates in Post Offices are over Rs 6,19,317.44 crore.

6. Money transfer service of India Post enables instant international money remittance to customers in India sent from 195 countries on a real-time basis. This service is operational in association with Western Union from 9,942 post office locations and MoneyGram through 6,070 post office locations.

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7. To ensure safe and timely delivery of goods, the department has signed an agreement for supply and installation of GPS devices in 990 mail vans. GPS devices have already been installed in 926 mail vans.

8. India Post ATMs have been installed in more than 500 locations across the country.

9. The department has earned revenue of Rs 2,247 crore during the period April 2015 to December 2015 registering a growth of 15% compared to corresponding period last year.

10. The department has 38 heritage buildings having architectural value.