Recall of articles posted

Inland postal articles and foreign letters and parcels, which have not been dispatched from Sri Lanka, may during transmission by post be recalled without reference to the consent of the addressee, subject to the following conditions, namely:­

  • They shall be redelivered to the sender, only on the orders of (a) the Postmaster General, or (b) any other officer of the Sri Lanka Post authorized in that behalf by the Postmaster General, or (c) the Minister of Post and Telecommunications.
  • A fee of one rupee shall be paid in postage stamps affixed to the application in respect of each postal article for the redelivery of which to the sender an application is made.
  • An application for the redelivery to the sender of a postal article shall be made in writing to any of the authorities aforesaid either direct or through any officer in charge of a Post Office.
  • Every application shall be made either by the sender of the postal article or by some person authorized in this behalf by the sender in writing.
  • Every application shall be accompanied by a statement (which may be enclosed in a sealed cover) of the reasons why. re­delivery is sought. Such sealed cover shall be opened only by (i) the Postmaster General, (ii) an officer of the Posts and Telecommunications Department authorized by him in that behalf, or (iii) the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications.
  • Upon receiving such application and statement, together with the prescribed fee as aforesaid, the officer in charge of the Post Office shall immediately send the same to the Postmaster General or the officer of the Posts and Telecommunications Department authorized by the Postmaster General to deal with such applications.
  • If postal article, of which redelivery is sought, is in his own Post Office the said officer shall, instead of forwarding it to the addressee, keep it in deposit, and send the application to the said authority.
  • If the postal article is not in his own Post Office, the said officer shall require the officer in charge of the Post Office of address in the case of an inland postal article, and of the General Post Office, Colombo, in the case of a foreign postal article, to abstain from delivering it to the addressee or from sending it to its address, and to keep it in deposit. The requisition to such other officer may be sent by telegraph, but all expenses attending its transmission shall be borne by the applicant.
  • When the application reaches any such authority referred to in condition (1), that authority may order the redelivery to the sender of the postal article upon being satisfied that the applicant is the sender, and that sufficient reasons have been given for the redelivery ; otherwise the postal article shall be sent at once to its address.
  • A postal article in course of transmission by post shall not be redelivered to any one but the sender or some person authorized in this behalf by the sender in writing.

This shall apply to all postal articles, official as well as non-official. But in the case of official postal articles no fee shall be taken.

NOTE :

01. The officers at present authorized by the Postmaster General are the Superintendent of Mails and the Divisional Superintendents. The expression "Postmaster General" includes the Deputy Postmaster General.

02. For the recall of foreign letters and parcels which have already been despatched from Sri Lanka, see rule 213.