New Delhi: India Post is set to deliver parcels, consignments, and articles within 24 hours with the launch of a new express service, the government said on Monday. 

The Department of Posts (DoP) will launch the '24 Speed Post' service on Tuesday (March 17) to offer next-day guaranteed delivery for urgent and time-sensitive consignments, the Ministry of Communications said.

The service will be launched by Union Minister for Communications Jyotiraditya M. Scindia and Minister of State for Communications Dr Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani at the Rang Bhawan Auditorium in Akashvani Bhawan at 12:30 pm, in the presence of senior officials of the Department of Posts.

The '24 Speed Post' service introduces next-day assured delivery aimed at improving express logistics services across major metropolitan cities, according to the ministry.

In the first phase, the facility will be available in six metro cities — Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad.

Along with this, the DoP will also offer '24 Speed Post' and '48 Speed Post' services with assured delivery timelines of D+1 and D+2 days respectively, supported by dedicated processing windows and priority air transmission.

The services will feature OTP-based secure delivery and end-to-end tracking with SMS alerts to keep customers informed about the status of their consignments.

For business customers, the department will provide a 'Buy Now Pay Later' (BNPL) facility, free pickup for bulk bookings, API integration, and centralised billing.

The services will also include a money-back guarantee in case of delays, further strengthening India Post’s premium express delivery capabilities, the ministry said.

Earlier this month, Pemmasani, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha, said the DoP has undertaken several initiatives in the parcel and e-commerce segment to transform into a major public logistics organisation and strengthen services nationwide.

These include modernisation of the parcel processing and delivery ecosystem to enhance speed, reliability and customer experience through standardised systems across the country.

"Last-mile delivery has been strengthened through Nodal Delivery Centres for mechanised and dedicated parcel delivery," he told the Parliament.

"Under the Advanced Postal Technology (APT) 2.0 project, real-time delivery updates, OTP-based delivery, and Application Programming Interface (API) integration with e-commerce partners have been introduced,” the minister said.