Gist of B.O. Rules -1
What a Branch Postmaster Should Do
• Customer Service: They must be courteous to the public and facilitate transactions while providing information on rates and services.
• Notice Board: All departmental notices should be neatly posted and obsolete ones removed.
• Sales: They must maintain a sufficient stock of postage stamps, postcards, and envelopes for sale to the public.
• Security: The B.P.M. must keep the keys for the letter box and other office boxes in their possession. Stamps, seals, and all money received must be locked up in a secure place.
• Mail Handling: Upon receipt, every bag must be examined, and cash bags must be weighed to confirm the weight noted on the B.O. slip. The B.P.M. must personally open bags and keep all prepared bags in their custody until the time of dispatch.
• Mail Dispatch: Every bag must be fastened and sealed, with the weight of cash bags recorded in the daily account. They should personally exchange mails with carriers and check bags to ensure nothing is left inside.
• Reporting: Any discrepancies, such as a missing bag or documents, or other irregularities, must be reported by the first mail.
• Stamping: The B.P.M. is responsible for correctly obliterating stamps, clearly stamping articles, and properly taxing unpaid postage.
• Special Articles: They must verify that signatures on "O.I.G.S." (On India Government Service) covers are genuine and punctually return acknowledgments for registered and parcel articles.
• Record Keeping: All books and records must be written neatly and clearly. Mistakes should be corrected by striking out the error and writing the correct entry above it in red ink, with the B.P.M.'s initials.
• Verification: The B.P.M. must verify the cash balance and postage stamps in the office every evening. They must also check balances due from the delivery staff and on articles in deposit.
• Supervision: The B.P.M. must strictly supervise the work of the delivery staff and ensure articles are delivered to the addressees.
• Savings Certificates: Upon receipt of Savings Certificates, they must promptly notify the purchaser, take the preliminary receipt, and then deliver the certificates.
What a Branch Postmaster Should Not Do
• This section lists prohibited actions for a B.P.M.:
• Office Hours: They should not be absent from the office during business hours.
• Access: Strangers should not be admitted to the interior of the post office.
• Information: Information obtained during the course of business should not be made public.
• Customer Service Fees: They should not affix postage stamps to articles (this is the sender's responsibility) or take any fees from the public for services like filling out money order forms.
• Posted Articles: They should not return a posted article to the sender without the authority of a Superintendent.
• Orderliness: They should not allow parcels, registered, insured, or money orders to be scattered about the office.
• Forms: They should not issue receipts for registered articles or money orders on any but the authorized forms.
• Subordinates: They should not allow subordinates or carriers to help pack the mail.
• Records: Erasures or obliterations should not be made in office books or documents.
• Cash Balance: They should not retain a larger cash balance than is necessary or allow accounts with delivery staff to fall into arrears.
• Transactions: They should not delay dispatching applications for Post Office Certificates and must record the purchaser's address. The B.P.M. must not omit to obtain the payee's signature on discharged certificates or pay the value of a Post Office Certificate without the account office's sanction.
• Warrants: They should not retain payment warrants beyond the prescribed period.
What a Branch Postmaster Should Not Fail to Do
• This section highlights critical tasks a B.P.M. must perform:
• Bag Examination: They must examine the seal, card label, and condition of a B.O. bag before opening it (Rule 52).
• Mail Lists: They must stamp and sign received mail lists (Rule 55).
• Cash Bags: They must examine and weigh received cash bags and compare the weight to the slip (Rule 167). B.O. slips must be signed, date-stamped, and filed monthly (Rule 167).
• Receipts: The Book of B.O. Receipts must be checked upon receipt from the account office to ensure receipts are in order (Rule 23).
• Accountable Articles: The B.P.M. must mark "Re-entered" against articles reissued from deposit (Note below Rule 169) and show accountable articles in deposit at the close of the day in red ink (Note 3 below Rule 169).
• Registered & Parcel Lists: They must sign and stamp registered or parcel lists with which articles are received (Rule 86).
• Monthly Abstract: The Monthly Abstract of B.O. transactions must be submitted to the account office on the first of each month (Rule 178).
• Errors & Irregularities: An error book must be maintained, and important irregularities reported immediately (Rules 36 and 37). The check slip must be signed in full (Rule 64).
• Article Delivery: The B.P.M. must ask the delivering official to attest the thumb impression of the addressee on the receipt for a registered article (Rule 91).
• Insured Articles: The weight of an insured article received must be ascertained and noted below the weight recorded by the account office (Rule 97).
• V.P. Receipts: The date of dispatch of a delivered V.P. receipt to the account office must be noted (Rule 103).
• Money Orders: The signature of a witness must be obtained for all money orders paid in villages, whether the payee is illiterate or not (Rule 112). If a money order is booked after the bag has been dispatched, "Too late" must be recorded on the receipt (Rule 104).
• Remittances: The cash bag containing a remittance must be weighed before dispatch, with the weight noted on the bag label and the B.O. daily account (Rule 171).
• Cash Custody: The B.P.M. is solely responsible for the safe custody of all cash and valuables received (Rule 11).
• Accountable Articles: Receipts for accountable articles must be passed immediately (Rules 81, 90, 104, and 129).
• S.B. Journal: Immediate entries must be made in the B.O.S.B. journal and S.B. passbook (Rule 131).
• Delivery Staff: The visit book of the village postman or delivery agent must be checked to ensure all villages are visited on the due days (Rule 9).
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