Parcels to US from General Post Office in Bengaluru see over 50% fall

Bengaluru: The effects of the 50% tariff slapped on India by the US are being felt at Bengaluru’s General Post Office (GPO), Cubbon Park. The number of articles booked for shipping to the US at the post office has nose-dived: from 57 parcels in July to 27 in the first 24 days of August, a more than 50% fall.

According to GPO officials, the fall is primarily due to the sharp rise in shipment costs due to tariff increase.

While packages under $800 were earlier allowed into US duty free, now any shipment above $100 draws stiff duties.

The August numbers are lesser than the 32 booked in June, when articles sent to the US usually dips due to summer break when students return home. The fall is sharper than what the numbers suggest as students returning for their fall semesters should have seen the numbers spike, post office staffers told DH.

India has suspended all postal services to US owing to the new duty regime. This means families will have to spend extra to ship parcels
or stop sending them
completely. 

A majority of parcels sent to US from Bengaluru are by family members or friends of students or working professionals living there. 

Geeta, mother of a student at Arizona State University, used to send to her daughter monthly packages of spices, blends and pickles. 

“My packages, depending on the weight, would cost around Rs 5,000, which was economical,” she told DH. In contrast, the same package sizes sent through private postal services were almost double the price, ranging from Rs 8,000 to Rs 10,000, she added.

Officials at the Chief Post Master General Office told DH that they were yet to hear any grievances from customers.

However, Delilah, a pre-med student at University in Oregan, told DH that her family used to send her a couple of packages every month from Bengaluru and the shipments would consist of food, medicines and necessities that she found expensive in US.

“Now I doubt they’ll be able to send me stuff that often anymore” she said. 

Anitha, mother of a dental professional working in Boston, tried to mail her son a couple documents that he required but was told that the services were suspended at the local post office, on Tuesday.

Another family received their rejected parcel on Thursday, because it contained food items and did not qualify as gift items.
A well placed source at the Bengaluru GPO confirmed that the postal department was closely monitoring the situation and was trying its hardest to restore services at the earliest.