The Hindu Business Line : Archies told to stop sale of stamps

THE Ministry of Communications and Information Technology has asked the greetings card company, Archies Greetings & Gifts Ltd, to discontinue the sale of postage stamps at its outlets with immediate effect.

According to Ministry sources, it is illegal under Section 16 of the Indian Post Office Act, 1898, for any individual or an organisation to sell postage stamps without specific authorisation by the Union Government.

Archies had recently advertised in some newspapers about the sale of postage stamps at its outlets in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR).

In response to the Ministry's notice, Mr Vijayant Chhabra, Executive Director, Archies Greetings and Gifts Ltd, when contacted, said: "The company's decision to sell postage stamps in its outlets was on the basis of approval from the Chief of the GPO."

Mr Chhabra also noted that there was no business motive behind the decision to sell stamps. "This was merely a service we wanted to extend to our customers. Most of our customers wanted this service to be provided to them, so that they could get their cards as well as the postage stamps from a single counter," he said.

Mr Chhabra said the company would immediately discontinue the service.

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