India Post Complaint — Register, Track and Escalate a Post Office Grievance
One complaint system covers every post office in India — Speed Post, registered and insured articles, money orders, Postal Life Insurance and Savings Bank. Here is the number, the portal and the escalation above the Department of Posts.
- Who to contact first
- The Department of Posts complaint system, which covers every post office in the country — you do not complain to the individual branch.
- How to reach them
- Call 1800 266 6868, or register on the India Post CRM portal at crm.indiapost.gov.in. Keep the Complaint ID; tracking runs on it.
- How long to wait
- India Post’s guidelines refer to resolution in a reasonable time rather than publishing a fixed number of days, so note your own dates and measure from them.
- If they ignore you
- Escalate to the Directorate of Public Grievances in the Cabinet Secretariat at dpg.gov.in, which India Post itself names as the route where the Department has not resolved the grievance satisfactorily.
Official source · last verified 1 September 2026 — India Post — complaint registration guidelines, Department of Posts. GetNyay is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting for any government department.
1924 circulates very widely as “the India Post complaint number” and appears to be historical. It is not published on India Post’s current contact page, so we do not print it as a live number. The number India Post publishes today is 1800 266 6868. Separately, India Post Payments Bank is a different entity with its own line — 155299 — and an IPPB banking grievance escalates to the RBI Ombudsman, not to the Department of Posts.
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Call 1800 266 6868 or register at crm.indiapost.gov.in with the article number from your booking receipt, and keep the Complaint ID — tracking runs on the Complaint ID, not the article number. India Post publishes no fixed redress period, so record your own dates. If it stalls, the Department’s own Public Grievance Division is on 011-2303 6397, and India Post’s guidelines then name the Directorate of Public Grievances in the Cabinet Secretariat at dpg.gov.in. Compensation for a lost article is a consumer commission matter, not a departmental one.
Key takeaways
- The article number from the booking receipt is the only identifier that traces anything. No receipt, no complaint.
- You are issued a Complaint ID when you file — tracking afterwards uses that, not the article number.
- India Post has no sector regulator. The escalation runs into the Cabinet Secretariat’s Directorate of Public Grievances instead.
- No fixed redress period is published, so the dates you record yourself are the only clock.
- India Post Payments Bank is a separate entity on 155299, and a banking grievance there goes to the RBI Ombudsman.
All contact channels
Every channel below was read on an official page. Contact details change — the source for each is linked in the verification footer at the end of this page.
The escalation ladder, level by level
Work through these in order. Every forum above asks what you did below, and skipping a rung is the commonest reason a complaint is sent back.
- 1India Post CRM complaintWait Not published as a fixed number of days
The Department of Posts complaint system, through the CRM portal or the toll-free line.
1800 266 6868 · crm.indiapost.gov.in
The article number (the tracking or consignment number), the date of booking, the booking office, the addressee, and what has gone wrong. Keep the Complaint ID.
- 2Public Grievance Division, Department of PostsWait Not published
The Public Grievance Division at the Directorate, in writing, on the same Complaint ID.
011-2303 6397 · Deputy Director General (PG & OA) 011-2309 6087
The Complaint ID, the article number, the dates, and what the CRM response did or did not address.
- 3Directorate of Public Grievances (DPG), Cabinet SecretariatWait Not published
The Directorate of Public Grievances, Cabinet Secretariat — the route India Post itself names.
dpg.gov.in
India Post’s guidelines say to approach the DPG where the Department has not redressed the grievance satisfactorily within a reasonable period. Quote the Complaint ID and both earlier stages.
- 4District Consumer Commission — e-JagritiWait Two years from the cause of action
The District Consumer Commission, where you want compensation for the loss.
e-jagriti.gov.in
The booking receipt, the article number, the Complaint ID and the value of what was lost or delayed. No filing fee where the consideration paid is up to ₹5 lakh.
How the process runs
- 1Register the complaint
Call 1800 266 6868 or file on crm.indiapost.gov.in with the article number. A Complaint ID is issued — everything after this runs on it.
then: the complaint reaches the office concerned - 2Track by Complaint ID
Use Track and Trace on indiapost.gov.in. No fixed redress period is published, so note the date you filed and measure from it.
then: if nothing moves in a few weeks - 3Public Grievance Division at the Directorate
Write quoting the Complaint ID — 011-2303 6397, or the Deputy Director General (PG & OA) on 011-2309 6087.
then: if still unresolved - 4Directorate of Public Grievances
India Post’s own guidelines name the DPG in the Cabinet Secretariat at dpg.gov.in as the escalation where the Department has not redressed the grievance satisfactorily.
then: if you want compensation rather than the article - 5District Consumer Commission
e-Jagriti, within two years of the cause of action. No filing fee where the consideration paid is up to ₹5 lakh. This is the only stage that can award you money.
What this system will not take up
Filing one of these wastes the whole period — it is closed on that ground alone.
- India Post Payments Bank account matters — a different entity, on 155299, escalating to the RBI Ombudsman.
- Private couriers. Blue Dart, DTDC and the rest have their own grievance officers and are not the Department of Posts.
- Anything pending before a court.
- A claim for compensation — the departmental system delivers the service or an explanation, not damages.
What to have ready before you complain
Assemble these first. A complaint that opens with the identifying numbers gets routed; one that opens with how long this has been going on gets a template reply.
- The article number — the tracking or consignment number from the booking receipt. Without it nothing can be traced.
- The booking receipt, showing the date, the office and the amount paid.
- The Complaint ID issued when you registered, with its date.
- The addressee’s name and full address as written on the article.
- For an insured or value-payable article, the declared value and the insurance receipt.
- For a money order, the money order number and the amount.
- Any delivery status screenshot from Track and Trace showing the last recorded movement.
Timelines at a glance
How long to wait at each stage, and where that period comes from.
| Stage | Window | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| India Post complaint resolution | A reasonable time — no fixed period published | India Post complaint registration guidelines. Record your own dates |
| Escalation to the Directorate of Public Grievances | After a reasonable period without satisfactory redress | India Post complaint registration guidelines |
| CPGRAMS, if filed in parallel | 21 days, with an interim reply if longer | CPGRAMS FAQ |
| Consumer complaint, from the cause of action | Two years | Consumer Protection Act, 2019 |
Common complaints handled here
Who runs this, and who is above it
Department of Posts, Ministry of Communications, Government of India
India Post is a government department rather than a regulated private company, which changes the escalation shape: there is no sector regulator above it. Instead the route runs through its own Public Grievance Division, then the Directorate of Public Grievances in the Cabinet Secretariat, with the consumer commission available in parallel where you want compensation.
https://www.indiapost.gov.in/ →If they ignore you — where to go next
What each forum costs and what it needs before it will take your case.
The Complaint ID and the dates. India Post’s own guidelines name the DPG at dpg.gov.in as the escalation where the Department has not redressed the grievance satisfactorily.
A parallel central record with a 21-day norm and a 30-day appeal window.
The booking receipt and the article number. This is the forum that can award compensation for a lost or badly delayed article — the Department’s own system cannot.
Frequently asked questions
What is the India Post complaint number?
India Post publishes 1800 266 6868 as its customer care number, available from 8:00am to 8:00pm, with the IVRS available around the clock including Sundays, 365 days a year except gazetted holidays. The number 1924 that circulates widely appears to be historical and is not on the current contact page, so we do not list it as live.
How do I complain about a post office online?
Register on the India Post CRM portal at crm.indiapost.gov.in, which is the route India Post’s own grievance guidelines point to. Have the article number from your booking receipt ready — it is the single thing without which a postal complaint cannot be traced. You will be issued a Complaint ID, and tracking afterwards runs on that ID rather than on the article number.
What complaints does India Post accept?
Its guidelines cover delayed or non-delivery of Speed Post, Express Parcel, Business Parcel and Logistics Post; money orders and electronic money orders; registered and insured articles; Postal Life Insurance and Rural PLI; Savings Bank and savings certificates; and misconduct by employees. That is a wide range, which is why naming the correct category when you file matters.
How long does India Post take to resolve a complaint?
Its guidelines speak of resolution within a reasonable time rather than publishing a fixed number of days, so there is no official figure to quote and we will not invent one. Note the date on your Complaint ID and measure from it. If a few weeks pass with nothing recorded, that lapse is what you cite when escalating.
Where do I escalate if India Post does not resolve my complaint?
India Post itself names the Directorate of Public Grievances in the Cabinet Secretariat, at dpg.gov.in, as the route where the Department has not redressed a grievance satisfactorily within a reasonable period. Before that, the Department’s own Public Grievance Division can be reached on 011-2303 6397. Filing on CPGRAMS in parallel adds a 21-day norm and a 30-day appeal window.
Can I claim compensation for a lost Speed Post article?
Not through the departmental grievance system, which delivers the service or an explanation rather than damages. Compensation is a matter for the District Consumer Commission, where a lost or badly delayed article booked for consideration is a deficiency in service. Keep the booking receipt and the article number: without the receipt the value paid cannot be established.
Is complaining to India Post free?
Yes. The toll-free number, the CRM portal, tracking and the escalation to the Directorate of Public Grievances are all free, and no lawyer is involved. Any demand for payment to register or expedite a postal complaint should be treated as a warning sign. The drafting help here is free as well — Word and PDF, no payment and no signup.
Why a post office complaint escalates differently from a courier complaint
Almost every other entity in this directory sits under a regulator. A bank has the RBI Ombudsman above it, a telecom operator has TRAI setting its grievance framework, an insurer has the Insurance Ombudsman. India Post has none of that, because it is not a regulated private company — it is a government department under the Ministry of Communications.
That changes the shape of the ladder in a way worth knowing before you start. There is no ombudsman to appeal to and no regulator to complain about the Department to. Instead the escalation runs upward inside government: the Department’s own Public Grievance Division at the Directorate, and then the Directorate of Public Grievances in the Cabinet Secretariat, which India Post’s own guidelines name as the route where a grievance has not been satisfactorily redressed within a reasonable period.
It also means the consumer commission carries more weight here than it does in a sector with a strong ombudsman. Where a bank customer usually gets faster relief from the RBI Ombudsman than from a consumer commission, a postal customer who wants compensation for a lost article has the consumer commission as the realistic first port of call for money — the departmental system will trace the article and explain what happened, but it will not pay you for it.
| Stage | Contact | What it can do |
|---|---|---|
| India Post CRM complaint | 1800 266 6868 · crm.indiapost.gov.in | Trace the article, explain, deliver or return it |
| Public Grievance Division | 011-2303 6397 | Push a stalled complaint inside the Department |
| Deputy Director General (PG & OA) | 011-2309 6087 | The senior public grievance post at the Directorate |
| Directorate of Public Grievances | dpg.gov.in | Central escalation outside the Department |
| District Consumer Commission | e-jagriti.gov.in | Award compensation — the only stage that can |
Postal Life Insurance matters are handled separately on 011-2467 2461, and India Post Payments Bank on 155299 escalates to the RBI Ombudsman rather than through this ladder.
The article number is the complaint
Postal complaint handling is built entirely around the article number — the tracking or consignment number printed on your booking receipt. It identifies the service used, the booking office, the date and the destination, and every stage of the system searches on it. A complaint that describes a missing parcel without one cannot be investigated, however clearly it is written.
This produces the single most common failure in postal complaints: the receipt is thrown away, or the article was booked by somebody else who no longer has it. If you are booking anything you would mind losing, photograph the receipt at the counter. It takes two seconds and it is the difference between a traceable complaint and an untraceable one.
Keep the two numbers straight as well. The article number traces the item; the Complaint ID, issued when you register, tracks the complaint. People routinely try to check complaint status with the article number and conclude that nothing was registered.
- Article number — from the booking receipt. Traces the item.
- Complaint ID — issued when you file. Tracks the complaint.
- Booking receipt — establishes the date, the office and the amount paid.
- Declared value and insurance receipt, for an insured or value-payable article.
- A Track and Trace screenshot showing the last recorded movement, taken before you complain.
For anything valuable, take a photo of the booking receipt before you leave the post office. Most lost-article complaints that go nowhere fail because the article number cannot be produced.
Filing under the right category
India Post’s guidelines cover a much wider range than most people expect, and the category you choose determines which office ever sees the complaint. Delayed or non-delivery of Speed Post, Express Parcel, Business Parcel and Logistics Post is one family. Money orders and electronic money orders are another. Registered and insured articles, Postal Life Insurance and Rural PLI, Savings Bank and savings certificates, and misconduct by employees are each handled distinctly.
Two of these are worth flagging because they are routinely misfiled. Postal Life Insurance has its own line, 011-2467 2461, and a PLI claim filed as a general postal complaint tends to sit in the wrong queue. And India Post Payments Bank is not the Department of Posts at all — it is a separate banking entity on 155299, and an IPPB grievance that is not resolved escalates to the RBI Ombudsman under the integrated scheme, not through the postal ladder.
Worked examples
Example 1: A Speed Post article shown as delivered that never arrived
- Service
- Speed Post, booked with receipt retained
- Status
- Track and Trace shows "delivered" on a stated date
- Reality
- Nothing received; no delivery attempted
- 1.Screenshot the Track and Trace page showing the delivery entry, with its date, before anything changes.
- 2.Register at crm.indiapost.gov.in with the article number, and state plainly that the record shows delivery on a date when no article was received.
- 3.Ask for two specific things: the delivery proof, including the signature taken, and the name of the delivering official.
- 4.Keep the Complaint ID. Asking for the delivery proof is what moves this type of complaint — a general complaint that the parcel is missing does not.
- 5.If nothing comes back, escalate to the Public Grievance Division on 011-2303 6397 quoting the Complaint ID, then to the DPG at dpg.gov.in.
- 6.If the article had value and you want it back in money, file at the District Consumer Commission with the booking receipt within two years of the cause of action.
The demand is for a document the Department either has or does not have, which is far harder to close with a holding reply than a general report of non-delivery.
More questions about this page
Can I complain about a post office employee’s behaviour?▼
Is India Post Payments Bank the same as India Post for complaints?▼
Official sources checked
The statutes, rules and regulator pages the statements on this page were checked against.
- Customer care 1800 266 6868, 8am to 8pm with IVRS around the clock; complaint registration through crm.indiapost.gov.in and tracking by Complaint ID. India Post Payments Bank is separate, on 155299.
- Lists the article types covered, names the Public Grievance Division (011-2303 6397) and the Deputy Director General (PG & OA) (011-2309 6087), and directs unresolved grievances to the Directorate of Public Grievances, Cabinet Secretariat, at dpg.gov.in.
- The central escalation India Post names where the Department has not redressed a grievance satisfactorily within a reasonable period.
- Deficiency in service, unfair trade practice, and the two-year limitation.
- The consumer commission filing portal since 1 January 2025, when it absorbed eDaakhil, OCMS, CONFONET and the NCDRC case management system.
Letter and notice formats
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Related escalation guides
Every contact detail on this page was read on an official page — primarily India Post — complaint registration guidelines, Department of Posts. Government contact details change without notice. If something here is out of date, tell us and we will check it.
What we deliberately left blank (4)
- — A fixed redress period in days — India Post’s guidelines refer to a reasonable time and publish no figure.
- — The 60-day window within which a complaint must be lodged, which appears on secondary sites but was not on the guidelines page read.
- — The number 1924 — widely circulated, apparently historical, and not on the current contact page, so deliberately not published.
- — Compensation scales for lost or damaged articles, which depend on the service used and the declared value.