POST OFFICE REGULATIONS – 2024 -1

 138. PA Exam Materials – PO Guide part I -4
Smt P.Kiruthika Paramasivam

Units Under Circle
• Regions.
• Circle Stamp Depot.
• Returned Letter Office (RLO).

Units Under Region
• Postal Training Centre.
• Postal Divisions.
• RMS Divisions.
• General Post Offices.
• Foreign Post Offices.
• Postal Store Depot.
• Mail Motor Service.

Postal Training Centres There are six Postal Training Centres across India:
• PTC Guwahati, Assam (established: October 27, 2003).
• PTC Dharbanga, Bihar (established: July 12, 1966).
• PTC Vadodara, Gujarat (established: July 1, 1962).
• PTC Mysore, Karnataka (established: April 20, 1965).
• PTC Madurai, Tamil Nadu (established: August 25, 1981).
• PTC Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh (established: April 2, 1951).

Heads of Postal Units
• Head of the Circle: Chief Postmaster General.
• Head of the Region: Postmaster General.
• Postal Division: Senior Superintendent of Post Offices / Superintendent of Post Offices.
• RMS Division: Senior Mail Guard (SRM) / Superintendent, Railway Mail Service (SSRM).
• Head of Postal Sub Division: Inspecting Postmaster (IP) / Assistant Superintendent of Post Offices (ASP).
• Head of RMS Sub Division: Inspecting Railway Mail Service (IRM) / Assistant Superintendent, Railway Mail Service (ASRM).

Railway Mail Service (RMS) The RMS handles mail transportation and distribution. An RMS office located at a Railway Station is called an RMS Sorting Office. If situated outside the railway station, it is a Sorting Office. If located at the headquarters of a division, it is a Head Record Office; otherwise, it is a Sub Record Office. A Transit Mail Office is a traveling unit of RMS (on a train).

CSD and PSD (Circle Stamp Depot and Postal Store Depot) All Circle Stamp Depots (CSD) and Postal Store Depots (PSD) have been merged and are now called Postal Stores Depots. Each of the 23 circles has one PSD at its headquarters, with additional PSDs in Maharashtra (Nagpur), Tamil Nadu (Madurai), and Uttar Pradesh (Aligarh).

Returned Letter Office (RLO) The RLO, formerly known as the Dead Letter Office, handles undelivered articles that both the addressee and sender refuse to accept. Ordinary unregistered letters are kept for one month before destruction, while registered articles are held for three months.
Foreign Post Offices (FPOs) An Office of Exchange (OE) is a post office or sorting office that exchanges mail with foreign countries. It receives and opens closed bags and dispatches mail to other post offices, mail offices, and Sub Foreign Post Offices within its jurisdiction, as well as to other Foreign Post Offices. It also manages accounts related to international mail and handles inquiries and indemnity cases. An OE can be an inward, outward, or both.

An Office of Exchange of Transit (Transit OE) is an OE located at a border, port, or airport that only receives and dispatches closed mail bags addressed to or from OEs in India and foreign countries, including foreign origin bags received in closed transit and destined for other countries. It exchanges mail with carriers or officials of foreign postal administrations/designated operators and coordinates with them regularly.

Examples of Transit OEs include:
• Bihar: Raxaul SO (Nepal)
• Delhi: IGI TMO
• Karnataka: APTMO, Bengaluru
• Kerala: APTMO, Kochi
• Maharashtra: APTMO, Mumbai
• Punjab: Amritsar RMS (Pakistan)
• Chennai: APTMO, Chennai
• Telangana: APTMO, Hyderabad
• West Bengal: APTMO, Kolkata, Bongaon PO (Bangladesh), Jalgaon PO (Bhutan)