Lost Your Speed Post Receipt? How to Find the Tracking Number Again
No receipt, no tracking number, and no idea where your letter is? Don't panic. You can't track Speed Post by name or phone number, but you can often get the number back. Here's where to look and what to say at the counter.
Found the number? Track it in seconds
Paste the 13-character consignment number (like EE123456789IN) and see every scan, free.
Here's the short answer. Speed Post can only be tracked with its consignment number (also called the article number). India Post's tracking box asks for a "Consignment / Money Order Number" and nothing else. There is no official way to search by your name, the receiver's name or a mobile number.
But the number isn't gone just because the paper is. It is very likely sitting in one of four places: an SMS on your phone, the app or email you booked with, the booking records at the post office where you handed it in, or with whoever sent it (if you are the receiver). Work through them in the order below.
One more thing before you start. If this was a legal notice, a cheque or anything you may need to prove later, the number alone isn't enough. You also want proof that you posted it. We cover how to get that back too.
Can You Track Speed Post by Name or Mobile Number?
No. Some websites and videos suggest otherwise, so let's be clear about why it doesn't work.
Every Speed Post article gets its own 13-character number when it's booked: two letters, nine digits, then "IN" (for example, EE123456789IN). That number is the key to the tracking record. India Post's website tracks only by this number, and India Post offers no official search by name, address or phone on its website or in the Dak Sewa app. That's for good reason: if anyone could type "Ramesh Kumar" and see where a parcel was going, it would be a privacy problem for everyone with a common name.
Be careful with "track by mobile number" sites. Any page that asks for your phone number, an OTP or a small payment to "find" your Speed Post is not India Post. At best it collects your number; at worst it's a scam. Don't share an OTP or pay anyone to "find" a tracking number.
How to Find a Lost Speed Post Tracking Number — In Order
Start with the quick checks you can do from your phone. Only go to the post office if these come up empty.
Search your SMS inbox for the booking message
Since India Post moved all its post offices to its new Advanced Postal Technology (APT) system in 2025, the government lists "SMS notifications of booking & delivery information" as one of the features for accountable mail like Speed Post. If you gave your mobile number at the counter, there's a good chance a booking SMS came to you.
Open your messages and search for "Speed Post", "India Post", "booked" or "IN" around the date you posted it. Check the spam or "promotions" folder too, in case your phone filtered it.
Didn't get any SMS? A likely reason is that no mobile number, or a wrong one, was entered at booking. Skip to Step 3.
Check your photos, chats, app and email
Before you go anywhere, spend five minutes on these:
- Your gallery. Did you or anyone else photograph the receipt or the envelope, maybe to send to a lawyer, client or family member?
- WhatsApp and email. Search for "Speed Post" or for numbers ending in "IN". People often forward the number to the receiver and forget.
- The Dak Sewa app or India Post website. If you booked online or through the app, look for the booking in your account there (the app also offers e-receipts) and check your email for a confirmation.
- Office dispatch register. If this went from a company, school, court clerk or lawyer's office, someone often writes each Speed Post number in a dispatch book or spreadsheet.
- Contract ID / bulk booking. Business customers often print their own labels or upload a booking list, so the number may be in their own records. See our contract ID guide if that's you.
Go back to the post office where you booked it
This is your best bet when everything else fails. Counter bookings are entered into the post office's computer system, so the counter clerk or the postmaster may be able to find your booking from the date and the receiver's details and read the article number back to you.
Ask politely for the article number and, if you need proof, a copy or printout of the booking entry (some people call this a "duplicate receipt" or a "booking register extract"). India Post doesn't publish a fixed procedure or fee for this, so what you get depends on the office. Some will print it on the spot. Others will write the number on a slip and ask you to put a request in writing to the postmaster for anything more formal.
Go to the same post office. That's where the booking was made, so it's the office best placed to find it. And go soon: a week-old booking is far easier to find than one from last year.
Got the number? Download the e-Receipt
India Post's website, indiapost.gov.in, has a "Download e-Receipt" option on the home page. It asks only for the article (or money order) number and a captcha. So once you've recovered the number from an SMS, a photo or the counter, you can usually get an electronic copy of the receipt yourself.
Note the catch: it needs the number. It can't help you find a number you don't have. Then track it on SpeedIndiaPost.com.
Still stuck? Call the helpline or raise a request
If the booking office isn't helping, call India Post's toll-free helpline. Tell them the booking post office, date and receiver details and ask them to take it up with that office.
1800 266 6868
Toll-free · call centre agents 8 AM – 8 PM · automated IVRS 24x7, including Sundays (except gazetted holidays)
You can also register a complaint on India Post's website or the Dak Sewa app. Our Speed Post complaint guide walks through it.
What to Carry to the Post Office
The clerk will have to search the office's bookings. The more you can narrow it down, the faster they're likely to find yours. Write these on a slip before you go:
| Detail | Why it helps |
|---|---|
| Booking date (and rough time) | Narrows the search to one day. Probably the most useful detail. |
| Receiver's name and full address with PIN code | Lets the clerk pick out your article from that day's list. |
| Amount you paid | Narrows it down when several items went to the same city. |
| Approximate weight or type (letter, document, parcel) | Another filter if the list is long. |
| Your name and the mobile number you gave | If a number was entered at booking, it may help confirm the entry is yours. |
| Photo ID | You're asking for someone's booking details; expect to show who you are. |
| UPI or card payment screenshot (if you paid digitally) | Shows the exact time and amount, which pins down the booking. |
Tip: go in the quieter part of the day, not at opening time or just before the evening dispatch. A clerk with no queue is far more willing to scroll through yesterday's bookings for you.
You're the Receiver and Don't Have the Number?
The booking receipt goes to the sender, so the number has to come from whoever sent it. Don't expect your local post office to find incoming items by your name; tracking works on the number.
From a person (family, seller, friend)
Just ask them for the number on their receipt, or a photo of it. If they lost it too, they're the one who has to go to the booking post office. You can't do that step for them.
The postman came and you missed it
Look for the intimation slip left at your door. It may have the article number and your delivery post office written on it, which is all you need.
Why You Need the Receipt, Not Just the Number
For everyday parcels, the number is enough. But for two situations, the receipt (or an official copy of the booking) really matters.
Legal notices and court papers
If you sent a legal notice, a cheque-bounce notice or a reply to a court, you may later have to show that it was actually posted, and when. Lawyers commonly keep the postal receipt plus the tracking or delivery report for this. A bare number written on a scrap of paper is much weaker. Read more in our legal notice by Speed Post guide.
Complaints and compensation
A Department of Posts order of 13 April 2021 says action to declare a Speed Post article lost starts on a complaint "with the proof of booking", and only the sender can seek compensation, "on submission of a valid proof of booking". No proof, no claim. See our compensation claim guide.
The clock matters too. India Post's complaint guidelines say complaints should be filed within 60 days of the transaction. And under that 2021 order, a Speed Post article with no final delivery status can be treated as lost 60 days after booking or 30 days after your complaint, whichever is later (provided the complaint was made in time). A November 2023 order shortened this for Speed Post Parcels to 30 days from booking or from the complaint, whichever is later. If you're hunting for a lost receipt because the item hasn't arrived, don't spend weeks searching. Get the number, then complain.
Important for legal matters: if the receipt was evidence in a case, tell your lawyer straight away and ask the booking post office for a written or printed copy of the booking entry. Whether a copy is enough for your case is a question for your lawyer, not the post office.
Which Option Fits Your Situation?
| Your situation | Best first move |
|---|---|
| Booked at a counter, gave your mobile number | Search SMS (including spam) for the booking message |
| Booked through the Dak Sewa app or online | Look for the booking in the app and your email |
| Booked at a counter, no SMS, no photo | Visit the same post office with date, receiver and amount |
| Sent from an office or lawyer's chamber | Check the dispatch register first |
| You are the receiver | Ask the sender or check the organisation's status page |
| Have the number, need a receipt copy | Use "Download e-Receipt" on indiapost.gov.in |
So It Never Happens Again
Photograph the receipt at the counter
Thermal receipts fade and get lost. A photo takes two seconds and lives in your phone forever.
Give your mobile number every time
Check the clerk typed it correctly. That's what gets you the booking and delivery SMS.
Send the number to the receiver
A quick WhatsApp means two people have it, and the receiver can track it too.
Save the e-Receipt for important items
For notices and documents, download the e-Receipt the same day and keep it with the case file.
Not sure what the letters in your number mean? Our consignment number guide explains the prefixes. And if the number you recovered shows nothing yet, read "Consignment Details Not Found".
Frequently Asked Questions
What to Do Right Now
- Search your SMS (and spam) for "Speed Post" or "India Post" around the booking date.
- Check your gallery, WhatsApp, email and the Dak Sewa app.
- Nothing? Write down the date, receiver's address with PIN, amount paid and weight, and go to the same post office with photo ID.
- Once you have the number, download the e-Receipt and track it here.
- If the item is missing, complain within 60 days. Don't wait.
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