India Post Services Comparison
Five commonly used India Post products, compared on the things that decide which one to use — cost, whether it's tracked, and how much you can send.
| Service | Trackable | Starts at | Max weight | Transmission | Insurance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Speed Post Parcel | Yes | ₹28 | Up to 35 kg | Air (surface where faster) | Up to ₹1,00,000 |
| India Post Parcel (Retail) | Yes | ₹28 | Up to 35 kg | Surface only | Available, fee extra |
| Speed Post Document | Yes | ₹19 (local) | Up to 500 g | Air (surface where faster) | Available, fee extra |
| Registered Letter | Yes | Not published | Not published | Not specified | N/A (see Insured Letter) |
| Book Post | No | ₹4 (first 50 g) | Not capped by this tariff row | Surface | N/A |
Prices are the lowest published slab (Local, up to the smallest weight band), exclusive of GST. "Not published" means India Post's own pages do not state a figure for domestic use — we have not estimated one.
Speed Post Parcel vs India Post Parcel
These two look almost identical on paper — both use the same size-and-weight test to define a "parcel," both cap at 35 kg, and both charge the same ₹28 for a local parcel up to 500 g. The difference that actually matters is how they travel.
Speed Post Parcel
Transmitted by air, with surface used only where it's faster. India Post publishes service standards for it — 1–2 days local up to 4–5 days for the rest of the country.
India Post Parcel (Retail)
Transmitted by surface only. India Post does not publish a delivery-time standard for it, and being surface-only, it should be expected to take longer than Speed Post Parcel on the same route.
Beyond the state/other-states slabs, India Post Parcel is consistently a little cheaper than Speed Post Parcel at the retail rate — for example ₹65 vs ₹76 within state for the smallest slab. The trade-off is speed, not price, once you're outside the local zone.
What happened to "Registered Parcel"?
If you've seen "Registered Parcel" mentioned elsewhere, it's not a separate current product. India Post's own regulation for India Post Parcel (Retail) states plainly that the Registered Parcel Service "has now been reintroduced as India Post Parcel (Retail)." Sites that still list Registered Parcel as a distinct option are describing a service that has been superseded.
Book Post — cheapest, but not tracked
Book Post is India Post's lowest-cost domestic option, priced from ₹4 for the first 50 grams and ₹3 for every additional 50 grams. It has no registration and generates no consignment number, so it cannot be tracked. It suits low-value items where losing the ability to trace the shipment is an acceptable trade for the lower cost — books and printed material are the typical use case, hence the name.
Registered Letter — a gap worth flagging
Registered Letter appears on India Post's own list of trackable services, but we could not find a current domestic registration fee published on indiapost.gov.in. The only "₹150 registration charge" figure on the official site is explicitly scoped tointernational mail, not domestic — so it would be wrong to quote it here as the domestic price. If you need the exact current fee, the counter at any post office can quote it; we would rather say we don't have a sourced figure than guess one.
Common questions
- Which is cheapest for a small parcel?
- For a local delivery up to 500 g, Speed Post Parcel and India Post Parcel both cost ₹28 — identical at that slab. Once you leave the local zone, India Post Parcel tends to be a little cheaper, but slower, because it travels by surface rather than air.
- Which is fastest?
- Speed Post Parcel and Speed Post Document are the only services here with a published delivery-time standard, because they travel by air. Neither India Post Parcel nor Book Post has a published timeline.
- Can I track a Book Post item?
- No. Book Post is not a registered service, so no consignment number is generated and there is nothing to track.
- What's the difference between a document and a parcel?
- Both Speed Post and India Post Parcel use the same test: an item over 500 g, or over set minimum dimensions, is booked as a parcel and declared merchandise. Under those limits, it can be booked as a document at a lower rate.
Last reviewed: . We recheck these pages when India Post changes its published information.