Indian Post Office Act, 1898
No: 6 Dated: Mar, 22 1898
THE INDIAN POST OFFICE ACT, 1898
ACT NO. 6 OF 1898
An Act to consolidate and amend the law relating to the Post Offices in India.
WHEREAS it is expedient to consolidate and amend the law relating to the Post Offices in India;
It is hereby enacted as follows:—
CHAPTER I
PRELIMINARY
1. Short title, extent, application and commencement.—(1) This Act may be called the Indian Post Office Act, 1898.
(2) It extends to the whole of India and it applies also to all citizens of India outside India.
(3) It shall come into force on the first day of July, 1898.
2. Definitions.—In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context,—
(a) the expression “Director General” means the Director General of Posts and Telegraphs;
(b) the expression “inland”, used in relation to a postal article, means—
(i) posted in India and addressed to any place in India or to any place for which a post office is established by the Central Government beyond the limits of India; or
(ii) posted at any post office established by the Central Government beyond the limits of India and addressed to any place for which any such post office is established or to any place in India:
Provided that the expression “inland” shall not apply to any class of postal articles which may be specified in this behalf by the Central Government by notification in the Official Gazette, when posted in or at or addressed to any places of post offices which may be described in such notification;
(c) the expression “mail bag” includes a bag, box, parcel or any other envelope or covering in which postal articles in course of transmission by post are conveyed, whether it does or does not contain any such article;
(d) the expression “mail ship” means a ship employed for carrying mails, pursuant to contract or continuing arrangement, by the Central Government or Her Majesty’s Government or the Government of any British possession or foreign country;
(e) the expression “officer of the Post Office” includes any person employed in any business of the Post office or on behalf of the Post Office;
(f) the expression “postage” means the duty chargeable for the transmission by post of postal articles;
(g) the expression “postage stamp” means any stamp provided by the Central Government for denoting postage or other fees or sums payable in respect of postal articles under this Act, and includes adhesive postage stamps and stamps printed, embossed, impressed or otherwise indicated on any envelope, wrapper, postcard or other article;
(h) the expression “Post Office” includes every house, building, room, carriage or place used for the purposes of the Post Office, and every letter-box provided by the Post Office for the reception of postal articles;
(i) the expression “postal article” includes a letter, postcard, newspaper, book, pattern or sample packet, parcel and every article or thing transmissible by post;
(j) the expression “Post Master General” includes a Deputy Post Master General or other officer exercising the powers of a Post Master General; and
(k) the expression “Post Office” means the department, established for the purposes of carrying the provisions of this Act into effect and presided over by the Director General.