Vrindavan Post & Parcels

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Vrindavan Post & Parcels

Post
There is a post office in front of the ISKCON Gurukula building, near the street. The people working there are not efficient. It is open 9.30 am to 4 pm, Monday to Friday. The main post office is near the Govindaji Temple. Mail (Post)
It usually takes at least 10 days to receive a letter from the USA or Europe, but two weeks is normal. Letters can arrive even two or three months after they are mailed, either coming to or going from India. Make sure you write AIR MAIL all over your letter.

Foreign airmail rates are Rs 11 for a letter, Rs 6.50 for aerogrammes, and Rs 6 for postcards. Letters mailed within India cost Rs 2, and postcards cost Rs 1.

When you send things in India, you must make sure the letter or postcard is stamped right in front of you. The major reason why letters are not delivered from India is because the postal employees steal the stamps that are not canceled, and resell them. Also, if you send postcards with nice pictures of Krishna, etc., they could be stolen just to get the photograph.

You can purchase aerogrammes with stamps printed on them from the post office, which you do not have to worry about being canceled. You can purchase stamps in larger hotels.
Speed Post Service is much faster and secure. If there is a delay in delivery you are supposed to get a refund. It costs Rs 200 to send a 200 grams letter to the United States.

In most of the big cities there are courier services run by international companies such as DHL. This service is fairly expensive, but is usually more reliable that the postal system. Stick to well-known names, even if it means paying more.

Parcels
There is a good chance that a package sent to you in India by mail will not arrive. It is a good idea to not mail anything to India larger than a letter—except a book.

To send a parcel, you first take it to a tailor and have him stitch cheap linen around it and seal the seams with wax. The parcel is supposed to be pressed with a seal that cannot be copied. If you have nothing else, a foreign coin will do. Many times, there is someone outside major post offices that do this. You can also have the person that you purchased the goods from arrange to seal and pack the package. It is not a good idea to have them ship the goods, unless you know them extremely well.

Take the parcel to the post office and fill out the customs declaration forms. You write your passport number, nationality, and the words “bona fide tourist” across the top of both forms. You are also supposed to list the contents of the package. To get lower duty when sending a package, it is best to write that it is a gift. If the parcel costs more than Rs 1000, you are supposed to show an encashment certificate, so you may want to write down the value as less than Rs 1000. Have the parcel weighed, and make sure they cancel the stamps in front of you.

Each package shipped has to be less than 10 kilos. A small packet (less than two kg) can be sent as a “packet” instead of a “parcel,” which is a much cheaper way to send it. The packet should be small.

You can send books and printed materials at bookpost rates, which is much cheaper than parcel post. The package has to be packed in a certain way. The postman has to be able to see that there are only printed materials inside. To protect the book you can wrap it in clear plastic first. You do not need a custom form to mail books. The maximum weight for a bookpost parcel is 5 kg. To send 5 kg of books by sea costs Rs 700.
You can really increase the chance of a package arriving in India if you insure the package. This rate usually costs around US$4 to insure a US$100 package. When a package is insured there is special security to protect the package when it arrives in India.

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