Postal Volume 5 Notes for Postman and Mail guard

Postal Volume 5 (10 Questions)

Rule Number	Topic
05	Head post office
07	Sub Post office
08	Branch Post office
26	Mail Bag
54	Face and Facing
55	Beat
56	Camp Correspondence
56-A	Late and Too late letters
57	Mis sent and Mis directed articles

5. Head Office:-

A Head Office is the main office of a group Post Offices consisting of itself and a  number of small offices called sub and branch offices which have been placed under its Accounts jurisdiction. It is the main office of account for itself and for all the sub and branch offices within the group, and the monetary transactions of the latter offices are incorporated in its accounts. The Officer in - charge of
a Head Office is designated a Head Postmaster.

7. Sub-Office:-

(1) A sub-office is Post Office subordinate to and in account with a Head Office and its monetary transaction are incorporated in the accounts of the latter office. The officer in-charge of a sub-office is designated a Sub-Postmaster.
(2) A sub-office situated in a town or its suburbs where there is also a Head Office is termed a town sub-office.

8. Branch Office:-

(1) A Brach Office is a Post Office of lower status than a sub-office. It is in direct account with a Head or sub-office which is termed its accounts office and its monetary transactions are incorporated in the accounts of the latter office. The Office in -charge of a Branch Office is designated as Branch Postmaster.
(2) A Branch Office situated in a town or its suburbs where there is also a Head Office is termed as town branch office.

26. Mail bags:-

(1) A mail bag is a bag containing unregistered and registered articles of the letter mail, viz., letters, postcards, and book and pattern packets: and also unregistered parcels, the registered articles being enclosed in a registered bag: but when a registered packet bag is prescribed, heavy registered packets, are dispatched inside the registered packet bag and not inside the mail bag.

When parcel bags are not prescribed, mail bags may also contain articles of the parcel mail. A mail bag exchanged between a Branch office and a Post Office other than its accounts office, mail office or section, with which it is in direct communication contains all fully prepaid articles except V.P. and insured articles and those on which customs duty is to be realized. There are three kinds of mail bags, viz., station mail bags, sorting mail bags and combined mail bags, Mail Bags are due bags.

(2) Mail bags exchanged between a cash office and the sub-office which it finances will also contain inside the registered bag, a cash bag. These mail bags are denoted in the due mail lists of the cash office, of the sub-office and of the offices through which they transit by a distinguishing symbol “F”.

In any case in which the Head of the Circle or the Heads of the Circles concerned consider it advantageous that the Registered bag should not be sent inside the mail bag, the Registered bag may be forwarded outside. All bags including those in the nature of ‘L’ bags should invariably be sealed. The arrangement will be clearly indicated in the Due Mail and Routing List.

54. Face and facing:-

The face of an article is the side on which the address is written. The terms ‘facing’ means the arrangement of articles with the address-side upwards and the addresses turned in the same direction.

55. Beat:-

The term beat used in relation to a RMS section means the portion of a Railway or Steamer line over which the section works. When used in relation to postal overseers and delivery agents, such as, postmen, village postmen, etc., it denotes the area within which they are required to perform their respective duties. A beat includes Post Office served by the official concerned.

56. Camp correspondence:-

The expression camp correspondence means letters and other articles of correspondence addressed “camp” or with any other prescribed address, without the addition of the name of any post-town, and intended for high officers on tour.

56-A. Late letters and too late letters:-

Late letters are letters presented at the window of a Post Office or Mail Office or posted in the letter box of a Mail Office after the prescribed hour of closing the mail but within the interval allowed for posting of such letters with the prescribed late fee affixed in addition to the postage.

“Too late” letters are those posted within such interval but without having been fully prepaid with postage and late fee. These are stamped “Detained late fee not paid” and detained till the next dispatch.

57. Mis-sent and mis-directed articles:-

A mis-sent article is an article which has been erroneously forwarded by an office to an office other than the office of destination or by a route other than the prescribed one.

A mis -directed article is a vernacular article on which the incorrect destination has been written in English by the office of posting.