Speed Post COD (Cash on Delivery) — How Value Payable Post Works for Sellers
Who can offer cash on delivery through India Post, how to register, what it costs, how the money reaches your bank, and what happens when a buyer refuses the parcel.
Waiting on a COD parcel — or a COD payment?
Check whether it's out for delivery, delivered or on its way back. Payment only starts once it shows "Delivered".
Yes, Speed Post does cash on delivery. You book the parcel with a COD amount, the postman collects that amount from your buyer at the door, and India Post sends the money to your bank account through its ePayment system. The catch is that it isn't a counter walk-in service: you first sign a COD agreement with India Post and get a customer ID.
The fee is 1.6% of the amount collected for COD values up to ₹6,500, plus GST, and you can collect up to ₹50,000 on one parcel. If the buyer refuses, the parcel comes back to you and you get no money for that order.
If you're the buyer, it's simpler: pay the amount written on the parcel and take it. You don't have to accept it — if you didn't order it or the amount is wrong, say no and the postman marks it "Refused".
VPP and Speed Post COD — What's the Difference Now?
Many sellers still call it VPP. Value Payable Post was India Post's old way of collecting money for goods: you sent a registered parcel or letter marked "VP" with the amount, the postman collected it, and the money came back to you by money order.
That system has been overtaken. The Post Office Regulations, 2024 (in force since 16 December 2024) describe the service only as cash on delivery — the term "value payable" doesn't appear in them. And Registered Post, which VPP ran on, was merged into Speed Post from 1 September 2025. So when someone today says "send it by VPP", what you actually book is a COD parcel.
| Point | Old VPP (legacy rules) | Speed Post COD (current) |
|---|---|---|
| Carried as | Registered parcel, letter or book packet | Speed Post or India Post business parcel |
| Maximum amount | ₹5,000 | ₹50,000, whole rupees only |
| Who could book | Anyone at a money order office, with a VP form and a "bona fide order" declaration | Customers who have signed a COD agreement with India Post |
| Money sent back by | Money order | ePayment to your bank account |
| Fee | VP fees paid at booking, under the old rules | 1.6% (or ₹100 + 1% above ₹6,500), plus GST |
| Insurance | Compulsory above ₹1,500 (for goods) | Optional, whatever the COD amount |
Old forms still turn up. Some small post offices may still talk about VP forms or quote old VP fees. If you're setting up a business, ask specifically for a COD agreement and COD customer ID — that's the current route, and it's the one that pays straight into your bank.
Who Can Use India Post COD
India Post markets Speed Post COD at e-commerce and online sellers, but the rules are wider than that. Regulation 135 of the 2024 Regulations says COD is available to "retail customers and customers" who sign an agreement with the Post Office. In practice, three kinds of sellers use it:
Home sellers
Pickles, sarees, handicrafts, books — selling on WhatsApp or Instagram. Ask your division whether they need a GST number from you.
MSMEs and shops
Regular senders who already have, or are ready for, a contract (bulk) account with India Post.
E-commerce brands
Websites shipping daily, often with pickup from their premises and credit billing.
Volume matters. India Post defines a contractual customer as someone giving ₹10,000 worth of postage business in a calendar month — that's the bar for credit (Book Now Pay Later). If you send fewer parcels, you can still ask; divisions handle small sellers differently. Our India Post contract ID guide explains the account side in detail.
How to Register for Speed Post COD — Step by Step
Expect to do this through your postal division rather than as a quick sign-up. Plan for one or two visits and some paperwork.
Go to your Head Post Office (or call the division's business team)
A small branch office usually can't set this up. Ask at the Head Post Office for "contractual customer registration with cash on delivery", or ask for the Business Development or Marketing executive of your postal division. Tell them roughly how many parcels you send a month, typical weight, and where your buyers are.
Submit your documents and bank details
The exact list varies by division, so carry originals and photocopies of:
Sign the agreement and choose how you'll pay postage
You sign an agreement with the Department of Posts for sending COD articles. You'll also pick a billing mode: advance deposit (you keep a balance and bookings are deducted) or Book Now Pay Later credit, which is for eligible contractual customers and comes with its own conditions. Read the agreement for return charges and the payment cycle before you sign.
Get your customer ID and COD biller ID
India Post creates a COD customer record — internally called a biller ID (sellers often say "eBiller ID") — linked to your bank account and to a payment office that pays you. Note down the biller ID, your customer ID and the name of your payment office. You'll need all three whenever you chase a payment.
Do one test parcel before going live
Send a small COD parcel to a friend in another city. Watch it on the tracker, have them pay, and see how many days it takes for the money to land. That one test tells you your real cash cycle better than anything anyone promises at the counter.
Booking a COD Parcel — What You Declare and What You Pay
Once your ID is active, booking is the same as a normal business parcel, with one extra field: the amount to collect.
- Declare the COD amount in whole rupees. No paise — ₹749 is fine, ₹749.50 isn't. The maximum is ₹50,000 per parcel. Include your shipping charge in this figure if the buyer is paying it.
- Pay the postage as per your contract — from your advance balance or on your monthly bill. See Speed Post charges for how weight and distance work.
- The COD fee isn't taken at booking. India Post bills COD commission monthly, with GST, for the COD parcels delivered in the previous month.
- Insurance is optional. For costly items it's worth adding — Speed Post parcels can be insured up to ₹5 lakh. Without it, loss compensation is double the Speed Post charges or ₹1,000, whichever is less.
- Check the contents are allowed. COD items can't contain anything prohibited — see our prohibited items list.
- Write the buyer's mobile number and full address clearly. A bad address or an unreachable phone is an easy way to lose a COD sale. Our address format guide helps.
Keep the booking receipt or your manifest. Each parcel has its own 13-character tracking number, and that number is how you'll match payments later.
Speed Post COD Charges
You pay two separate things: the normal postage for the parcel, and the COD fee on what the postman collects. The COD fee comes from Table III of Schedule IV of the Post Office Regulations, 2024:
| Amount collected from buyer | COD fee (before GST) |
|---|---|
| Up to ₹6,500 | 1.6% of the amount collected |
| Above ₹6,500 | ₹100 + 1% of the amount above ₹6,500 |
Example 1 — ₹1,200 kurti
- COD fee: 1.6% of ₹1,200 = ₹19.20
- COD cost: ₹19.20 plus GST, plus your postage
Example 2 — ₹10,000 phone
- COD fee: ₹100 + 1% of ₹3,500 = ₹135
- COD cost: ₹135 plus GST, plus postage (and insurance, which you should add here)
You get the full collected amount. Under India Post's revised billing, the whole COD amount is paid out to the seller with nothing cut per parcel. The commission comes as a separate monthly invoice, and it's calculated on COD parcels delivered — so a refused parcel doesn't attract the COD fee.
At the Door — How the Buyer Pays
This is the part buyers search for most, often while the postman is standing outside.
Cash always works
Keep the exact amount ready. The postman may not carry change, and a parcel you can't pay for goes back to the post office.
QR code payment — possible, but don't rely on it
India Post's new IT 2.0 delivery app has a built-in digital payment feature using dynamic QR codes, and post offices now accept QR-code payments. Whether you can pay by QR at your door depends on your postman's device, so ask — and don't count on paying by card.
Pay first, then open
Under the regulations, whoever takes delivery of a parcel with money due on it has to pay the amount marked on it. They don't provide for opening it first and then deciding. You can refuse it instead — you're not bound to pay for a parcel you don't want.
Missed the postman? The parcel is held at your delivery post office for a limited time — ask how long, and don't count on more than a week — and you can pay and collect it at the counter with ID. See what to do after "Delivery Attempted".
Getting Paid — Remittance Timeline and How to Track It
Here's what happens to the buyer's money. The postman hands it in at the delivery post office. Once the delivery is accounted for, it's posted in India Post's system as an amount due to your biller ID. Your payment office then pays the dues out to your bank by ePayment.
How long does it take? India Post's COD page doesn't give a fixed payout timeline. In real life it depends on how often your payment office processes COD dues. So ask for the payment cycle in writing when you sign up, and plan your stock purchases around it.
Day 0 — Delivered, cash collected
Tracking shows "Delivered". How many days after posting that happens depends on the distance and the route.
After delivery — amount posted as due
Once the delivery is accounted for, your parcel shows up as an unpaid COD article against your biller ID.
Payment run — money reaches your bank
Your payment office pays out the dues. Payouts can be batched, so one credit in your bank may cover several parcels.
Next month — COD commission invoice
You get a bill for last month's COD fee plus GST. On credit, it's added to your bill; on advance deposit, you pay it separately — it isn't taken from your balance.
How to track whether a COD payment has been made
- Keep a sheet: tracking number, COD amount, booking date, delivery date, date paid.
- Check each parcel on our tracker. Only "Delivered" parcels are due for payment.
- Ask your payment office for the article-wise payment list for your biller ID — India Post's system records paid and unpaid COD articles against your account, with the payment date.
- Match the bank credit against that list. Anything delivered but missing after your usual cycle — chase it the same week with the tracking numbers.
Don't let unpaid parcels pile up. Write to your payment office (or the division's business team) with your biller ID and the list of tracking numbers. If that goes nowhere, raise a formal complaint — our Speed Post complaint guide covers the channels.
What Happens If the Buyer Refuses
The postman writes "Refused" on the parcel, and under the regulations refused items go back at once to the office where they were booked, for delivery to you. A parcel that isn't collected within the holding period also comes back.
What it costs you: the postage you paid for a parcel that earned you nothing, and a few days with that stock tied up. The COD fee isn't charged because the parcel wasn't delivered. Whether India Post also bills a return charge depends on your contract — get that clause explained before you sign, because on COD it adds up quickly.
How to cut refusals
Confirm every COD order before you ship
A quick WhatsApp or call: "Your order of ₹849 is being posted today by Speed Post, cash at delivery — okay?" It helps weed out fake and impulse orders before you pay postage.
Send the tracking number the same day
Buyers who can see the parcel coming are more likely to be home and ready with cash.
Ask for a small advance on high-value orders
Take ₹100–200 by UPI and put the rest on COD. Someone who has already paid something is less likely to refuse.
Write the exact amount on your invoice inside and on the label
A buyer who expected ₹799 and is asked for ₹849 may refuse on the spot. No surprises.
Coverage — Why Sellers Choose India Post for COD
India Post had 1,64,999 post offices as of 31 March 2025 — 1,39,908 of them branch post offices, and nearly 90% in rural areas. If your buyers are in small towns and villages, check whether your private courier actually serves their PIN code — India Post may reach places it doesn't.
Weigh that against delivery speed and how quickly payouts reach you. Some sellers use both: a private courier for metro COD orders, and India Post for remote PIN codes and buyers who trust the postman more than an unknown courier.
Common COD Problems and What to Do
| Problem | What to do |
|---|---|
| Shows "Delivered" but no money after your usual cycle | Ask the payment office for the article-wise paid list for your biller ID. Give them the missing tracking numbers in writing. |
| One bank credit, many parcels — can't match it | Payouts can be batched. Ask for the payment statement for that date and tick off tracking numbers. |
| Buyer says the postman asked for more than the COD amount | The buyer should pay only what's marked on the parcel. Get the tracking number and complain to the delivery post office. |
| Parcel stuck at "Delivery Attempted" | Call the buyer the same day and ask them to collect it from the post office with cash before it's sent back. |
| Counter says "COD not available here" | COD needs your customer ID to be active at your booking office. Go to the Head Post Office or your division's business team. |
| Expensive item lost in transit | Without insurance, compensation is capped at double the Speed Post charges or ₹1,000. See our claim guide — and insure the next one. |
Track Your COD Parcels
For a seller, tracking is the money trail: "Delivered" means payment is due, "Delivery Attempted" means call the buyer today, and "Return" means stop waiting for that payment. Paste any tracking number into SpeedIndiaPost.com for the full history — free, no login.
Track a Parcel NowFrequently Asked Questions
What to Do Now
Seller, not registered yet?
Count last month's parcels, gather PAN, ID, business and bank proof, and go to your Head Post Office this week. Ask for a contractual account with COD, and ask three questions: payment cycle, return charges, and who your payment office is.
Seller, already shipping COD?
Start the tracking-number-to-payment sheet today. Check every "Delivered" parcel against bank credits once a week and chase gaps immediately.
Buyer expecting a COD parcel?
Track it, keep the exact amount in cash, and keep your phone on. If you miss the postman, collect it from the post office within the week.
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