Mailing Operator & Courier Services Licensing Authority

The Authority was constituted under the Post Office Act, 1898 (Act VI of 1898), section 4C(3) read with section 4B, and the Mailing Operator & Courier Service Rules 2013 (মেইলিং অপারেটর ও কুরিয়ার সার্ভিস বিধিমালা, ২০১৩), issued vide Bangladesh Gazette S.R.O. ৩৪৯-আইন/২০১৩ (dated ১১ নভেম্বর ২০১৩) by the Ministry of Posts & Telecommunications.

The Rules replace and supersede the earlier S.R.O. ২৮৮-আইন/২০১১ dated 13 September 2011 (Bidhi 27 of the 2013 Rules); however, any licences, permits, or directives issued under the superseded instrument remain in force until expiry or cancellation.

Under Bidhi 4 of the 2013 Rules, the Licensing Authority is constituted with the following members:

1. An officer of the Ministry not below the rank of Joint Secretary, who shall be its Chairman;
2. An officer of the Ministry not below the rank of Deputy Secretary;
3. An Additional Director General of the Bangladesh Posts Department, who shall also be its Member-Secretary.

The Chairman and members are nominated by the Ministry and serve for the period it determines; they are eligible for re-nomination. If the Chairman is unavailable on account of leave, illness, or any other reason, the Ministry nominates a temporary Chairman.

The Authority is an administrative body under the Ministry, and its office is located in Dhaka (Bidhi 4(4)-(5)).

The Authority may, in particular, perform the following functions:

• Grant licences and agency permits to mailing operators and courier service establishments;
• Recover the licence fee, compensation fee, and other fees prescribed by Government, and prescribe the recovery mechanism;
• Determine the area of operations and any other rights of mailing operators and courier service establishments;
• Set the service standard to be delivered by operators, monitor compliance with that standard, and frame policy for the continuous improvement of mailing & courier service quality;
• Act as mediator or arbitrator in disputes — between customers and operators, between operators and any other service-provider, and between operators or any related inter-agency body;
• Levy administrative fines and recover them when licence conditions are violated;
• Hear and dispose of customer complaints and protect customer rights;
• Conduct inspections of operators and frame related policy;
• Confer recognition on top-performing customers, organisations, individuals, and operators delivering the highest service standards;
• Ensure the affairs of operators are carried on with transparency, accountability, and integrity;
• Supervise the application of the rules of the Universal Postal Union, the International Civil Aviation Organisation, the International Association of Travel Agents, World Customs Organisation, Warsaw Convention, and Bangladesh Bank for the international carriage of mailing-operator and courier goods;
• Advise on UPU regulations, modern concepts in international mail & courier services, service-quality enhancement, application of digital technology, research, training, and service development;
• Arrange necessary training for the skill-development of operator staff; and
• Perform such other duties as the Ministry may assign from time to time.

The Rules classify operators into three families, each with multiple sub-grades determined by paid-up capital, geographic scope, and foreign-investment status:

See 2013 Bidhimala § Bidhi 18 for the authoritative source text; see Downloads for the fee schedule (Tofsil-7) attached to each sub-grade.

Nothing in these Rules applies to special institutions or organisations engaged in the carriage and delivery of:

• The mail-bags of the President and Prime Minister;
• Diplomatic mail-bags;
• The mail-bags of the armed forces and law-and-order maintaining forces.

The original of these Rules is in Bangla. An authentic English translation may be issued; however, in the event of conflict between the Bangla and English text, the Bangla text prevails.

The Bangla Gazette PDF is available on the Downloads page. The page you are reading is an English summary; nothing on it constitutes a legal interpretation.