Difference Between Speed Post and Courier (with Examples, Basic Terms, FAQ's, Similarities and Comparison Chart)

Speed post is a postal service provided by the nation’s postal department, to facilitate time-bound delivery of letters, parcels, documents, and other important stuff. On the other hand, the courier is also an express service, provided by a private company and facilitates timely shipping of consignment and letters.

Back in olden days, the only method to connect with our loved ones, friends, relatives and acquaintances, was to send letters, with the use of pigeons, which took days and sometimes months, to reach the destination. Later on, postal service came into existence, that aided in the fast delivery of letters.

But, with the emergence of internet and telecommunication network, the need for sending letters via post has been reduced, as they can directly contact each other in seconds.

Despite the technology advancement, people still use the postal service to send their important documents, letters, deed and parcels. Further, speed post and courier services has been upgraded over time, now delivery of goods or documents has become quick and convenient.

Content: Speed Post Vs Courier

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

Comparison Chart

Basis for Comparison	Speed Post	Courier
Meaning	Speed Post is a high-speed postal service provided by the postal department, which provides on-time delivery of letters, parcels and important documents around the world.	Courier is a mail service, offered by a firm, which involves handling and shipping of packages, money, documents, etc. from one place to another.
Network Coverage	Across the world	Depends on the company's network
Company	India Post	Some popular companies are DHL Express India Pvt Ltd, First Flight Courier Limited, Blue dart Express Limited etc.
Availability of service	24×7 booking facility is available in all major cities. And in other cities, the service is available on all business days.	The service is available throughout the year, including on Sundays.
Tracking status	Provided by the Speed Post	May or may not be provided by Courier Companies
Rate	One Rate across the nation, considering the weight and distance.	Different companies charge different rates, considering the weight and distance.
Speed	Fast	Comparatively Slow

Definition of Speed Post

Speed Post, as its name indicates is a high-speed postal service, started in 1986 in India by the Indian Postal Department in the name of ‘EMS Speed Post. Further, it has excellent coverage across the whole nation.

It is a leading postal service in the express industry, which ensures fast and timely delivery of parcels, letters, cards, documents, legal papers, etc., having weight up to 35 kg. This service is available at a very reasonable price, i.e. ₹ 15.00 for delivery up to 50 grams.

Characteristics of Speed Post

Insurance: Consignments are insured up to ₹1,00,000.
Booking Facility: 24 hours booking facility is available in all the major cities of the country.
Tracking System: It also offers a Status Tracking Service, which helps people to know the status of their parcel, right from the booking, till it is delivered.
Discounts: Discounts on the basis of the volume is provided to corporate and regular customers.
Mobile Notification: Once the consignment reaches the delivery post office, the sender will be updated with an SMS, as well as a confirmation message is also sent by the department when it is delivered.
Free pick-up: For Corporate and bulk customers, free of cost pick up facility is available, wherein the consignments are collected at the doorstep, either on-call or regular collection service.
Book now pay later: For corporate customers and contract customers, the credit facility is also provided, so that they can pay the due amount after some time.
Cash on Delivery: For eCommerce websites and online retailers, cash on delivery (COD) facility is provided.
Compensation: In case of delay in the delivery of consignment speed post charges will be refunded. Further, when the article is lost or damaged, the twice of the amount of the speed post charges or ₹ 1000, whichever is less will be refunded.

Also Read: Difference Between Speed Post and Registered Post

Definition of Courier

Courier Service is a mail service provided by private firms, which facilitates the delivery of parcels and consignments from one place to another. They provide fast and safe delivery of consignment along with the tracking system. The service came into being to provide an efficient and secure mode to send parcels, letters and documents. The service is available to you throughout the year.

Basic Features of Courier

Status Tracking Facility
Fast track delivery
Worldwide Delivery
Safe and Secure Transportation
Delivery of heavy items.

It must be noted that different courier service providers specialize in different functions and so they differ in the services provided, time-taken for delivery, network and so on.

Examples of Courier Service Providers

Some popular courier companies operating in India are:

DHL Express India Pvt Ltd,

FedEx

First Flight Courier Limited,

Blue Dart Express Limited,

United Parcel Service (UPS)

DTDC

Delhivery

Of these Blue Dart, Ekart, FedEx, UPS, DHL and DTDC, also offers international delivery of parcels.

Also Read: Difference Between Certified Mail and Registered Mail

Key Differences Between Speed Post and Courier

Upcoming points will tell you the differences between speed post and courier:

Speed Post is a postal service provided by the postal department, which facilitates fast and timely delivery of letters, parcels and documents. As against, Courier service is also a mail service rendered by different private firms, that facilitates the shipment of the letters and parcels, from the source to destination.

When it comes to network, speed post has an excellent network coverage, which provides delivery of parcels to any location around the world. As against, the coverage of courier service depends on the company’s network.

Speed Post service is rendered by India Post. Conversely, Courier service is provided by private entities, such as DHL Express India Pvt Ltd, First Flight Courier Limited, Blue dart Express Limited etc.

Speed post provides 24×7 booking facility in all major cities of India. While, in other cities or towns, the service is available on all business days. On the other hand, Courier service can be availed on all weekdays, i.e. including Sundays and even holidays.

Status tracking facility is provided by the speed post, but not all the courier companies provide this facility. However, there are also some companies which provide real-time tracking of the parcels.

The speed post service has one rate across the nation considering the weight and distance of the parcel. In contrast, the Courier charges may vary from company to company taking into account the weight and distance.

Considering the time taken by the speed post and courier in general, at local, major cities and tehsil level, speed post is comparatively faster than courier.

Similarities

Both deliver parcels and letters.
Both give the facility to track the status of a parcel online.
Both are reliable and speedy shipping service.
Both deliver parcels within 24-72 hours, locally.
Both save time and money.

Basic Terms

What is Postal Service?
Postal service is a shipping service rendered in the post office, generally by the country’s government, or on their behalf. It helps in the delivery of consignments and important documents.
Examples of Postal Services: Australia Post, China Post, India Post, United States Postal Service (USPS), etc

Who is an Addressee?
An addressee is the intended recipient, to whom the mail or parcel is to be delivered.

Who is a Sender?
Any person who sends any kind of mail or parcel, to another person, is called sender.

Who is an Agent?
Any person duly authorized by the addressee, to take the postal article on his/her behalf is called an agent.

Also Read: Difference Between Zip Code and Postal Code

Frequently Asked Questions

What are Speed Post charges as per the weight?

The speed post tariff structure is given in the table below:

How much time is taken by Speed Post, to deliver parcels?

In general, the standard delivery time for speed post is:

When the parcel is booked and to be delivered locally, the standard time taken will be 1-2 days. Local as in – within identified PIN codes (for metropolitan cities), within the limit of the municipality (for cities which are not metro cities), and within the same PIN code delivery jurisdiction – for small towns.
When the parcel is booked in a metro city and to be delivered in a metro city then the standard time for delivery would be 1 to 3 days.
When the parcel is booked in the state capital and to be delivered in another state capital, then it might take 1 to 4 days.
When the parcel is booked and to be delivered within the same state, then the usual time for delivery is 1 to 4 days.
When the parcel is to be delivered otherwise, i.e. to any other location in the country, then the standard speed post delivery time would be 4 to 5 days.

Conclusion

Due to the busy schedules, people do not have time to wait for days to get the delivery of their parcels, thus the speed post and the courier services have reduced the time of delivery to a great extent, thereby making the process quick and convenient.

In addition to this, the online tracking system is an add-on, provided by both the services, where people can easily check the status of their parcels, thereby ensuring the security, guarantee and time-bound delivery.

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