With the phasing out of registered post, summons or divorce notices from courts will be issued through speed post, State governments and Union Territories with legislatures are amending laws to give equal status to speed post.
One such notification has been issued by the Delhi government which said, “The High Court of Delhi, in exercise of powers under Section 7 of Delhi High Court Act, 1966, and all other powers enabling it in this behalf, hereby notifies that the words ‘Registered Post’ wherever they occur in any Rules, Notifications, Practice Directions and Orders etc. relating to this Court and issued by this Court be read as ‘Speed Post’ with effect from the date of merger of ‘Registered Post’ Service into ‘Speed Post’ as notified by the Department of Posts.”
With effect from October 1, registered post has been repackaged as ‘registered speed post.’ The change marks the end of an era. In a notification dated August 18, the Department of Posts explained its reasoning. It has undertaken an exercise to rationalise the suite of postal products and services offered. “As part of this exercise, keeping in view necessary legal requirements with respect to delivery of summons, notices, and other statutory documents, it is hereby notified that, Registration, a value-added service, will now be available under the revised framework within the country,” the notification read.
The details are clear: “Registration will be available as a value-added service for Speed Post items only and shall provide addressee-specific delivery.” In other words, the legal import of the registered letter will live on, only in its new avatar. Other categories of mail will not be eligible. Instead, Speed Post Letters and Speed Post Parcels will become the backbone of accountable postal delivery across India.
The move, the department says, is driven by demand. “This revised framework is in line with the government’s commitment to better align these services with evolving market demand and customer expectations,” the notification said. According to officials, registered letters have strong legal recognition and a mechanism is being developed to ensure it remains for speed post with registration.
Courts have been used to take cognisance of registered post, it is the preferred channel for divorce notices, eviction warnings and formal summons. “Registered letter are delivered to addressee only and cannot just be left at address,” an official said. “For delivery, the postman can leave a message for the addressee and can wait for 7 days.” Those same protections, he added, will remain part of the new value-added service. “This is important from a legal point of view,” he said.
The old registered letters moved mostly by road and rail, which meant inevitable delays. “As on date, registered letters are transported through surface transport and takes time to reach to the addressee,” the official said. “Now with Speed Post, these can be taken to the destination via air too, and that will reduce the time and ensure much faster delivery,” he added.
Published on October 10, 2025