For not allowing postal staff to deliver letters and parcels to employees

Frustrated over the treatment meted out to the postal staff for several months now, the postal department is considering initiating legal action against those IT firms that deny access to deliver letters and parcels to employees.

For over a year now, seven post offices along the IT corridor have been finding it challenging to deliver mails to IT employees. On an average, each of these offices gets 300-400 mails daily. Now, at least 50 mails and Speedpost articles are returned undelivered daily to Sholinganallur post office as the security personnel did not allow postmen to deliver them.

Officials of the postal department said the staff contact the recipients of letters if a phone number is specified or return it to the senders. The department had earlier written to over 30 IT companies in Kelambakkam, Sholinganallur, Velachery, Perungudi and Siruseri.

After a round of meetings with the Labour Department and representatives of IT companies, some firms agreed to be receptive. Mervin Alexander, Postmaster General (Chennai City Region) said, “A few companies like Wipro Technologies continue to deny access to our staff. They do not even accept intimation slips that help the recipients trace letters or articles addressed to them.”

Postal staff already face the challenge of spending more time in delivering letters at the IT hub. They mostly intimate the recipients prior to delivery to avoid delay or return.

“We plan to have another round of discussions with Labour Commissioner. If there is no response, we will take legal action for not allowing government staff to discharge their duties,” said Mr. Alexander.