| ARRANGEMENT BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA AND THE ROYAL GOVERNMENT OF BHUTAN FOR THE POSTAL EXCHANGE OF CORRESPONDENCE New Delhi, 11 September 1962 In order to establish an exchange of correspondence between India and Bhutan, the undersigned, duly authorised for the purpose,
HAVE agreed upon the following articles
Article 1
There shall be, between the Postal Administration of India and the Postal Administration of Bhutan, a regular exchange of the following
kinds of fully pre-paid unregistered correspondence, namely, letters, single postcards, printed papers, business papers and samples
of merchandise.
Article 2
The offices of exchange shall be Calcutta Foreign Post, Calcutta R.M.S., Siliguri R.M.S. and Dalsingpara Sub Office on the side of
India and Thimpu, Paro and Phuntsholing on the side of Bhutan.
Article 3
The Postage on postal articles exchanged between the two Administrations shall be paid by means of postage stamps of the country
of origin and such pre-payment shall entitle the postal articl-es to be delivered free of all postal charges. The two Administrations
shall communicate to each other details of their tariffs of postal charges and shall supply each other with 6 complete sets of postage
stamps used in their respective services.
Article 4
Unpaid or insufficiently pre-paid correspondence which is wrongly accepted shall be liable to a charge, to be paid by the addressee,
equal to double postage or double the amount of deficiency.
Article 5
Each Administration shall keep the whole of the sums which it collects under Articles 3 and 4.
Article 6
No supplementary postage shall be chargeable for the re-direction of articles of correspondence within India and Bhutan.
Article 7
Correspondence of all kinds which is not delivered from whatever cause, shall be returned as soon as possible after the period for
keeping it as required by the regulations of the country of destination, and at the latest at the expiration of two months, through
the medium of the respective offices of exchange in a special bundle labelled "Rebuts".
Article 8
Mails exchanged between the two Administrations shall be accompanied by letter bills which shall be placed in blue envelopes marked
distinctly "Letter bills". A pattern of the letter bill' is appended to this Arrangement.
Article 9
(1) As a general rule, the articles of the mails shall be classified and tied up in bundles according to the nature of the correspondence.
Letters bearing traces of violation or damage shall have the fact noted on them and be marked with the date-stamp of the office making
the note.
(2) Every mail, after having been tied with string, shall be wrapped in strong paper sufficient in quantity to prevent damage to
the contents, then tied again-with string on the outside and sealed with wax by means of the official seal. The mail shall be furnished
with a printed address bearing, in small characters, the name of the despatching office and in larger characters the name of the
office of destination : When their size requires it, mails shall be enclosed in bags properly closed, sealed with wax or lead and
labelled,
(3) The label used for mails sent in bags shall be of strong thick paper or of paper affixed to blocks. The label shall indicate
in a legible manner the office of origin and that of destination.
(4) When the number or bulk of the mail necessitates the use of more than one bag, separate bags shall, as far as possible, be utilised
(a) for letters and postcards;
Each bag shall bear an indication of its contents. (5) No bag shall exceed 20 Kilograms in weight.
Article 10
The bags shall be returned empty to the despatching office by the next mail in the absence of other arrangements between the two
Administrations.
The return of empty bags shall be effected by such office of exchange of the two countries as are respectively appointed for the
purpose by the Administrations interested, after previous understanding. The empty bags shall be rolled up and tied together in suitable bundles, the label blocks, if any, being placed inside the bags.
The bundles shall be supplied with a label showing the name of the office of exchange whence the bags have been received on every
occasion whenever they are returned through another office of exchange.
If the bags to be returned are not too numerous, they may be placed in the bags containing correspondence. In the contrary case,
they shall be placed separately in sealed bags, labelled with the names of the respective offices of exchange. The labels shall be
marked "Empty bags".
Article 11
(1) The office of exchange which received a mail shall ascertain whether the entries in the letter bill are correct. (2) When the office of exchange detects errors or omissions it shall immediately make the necessary corrections on the letter bill,
taking care to strike out the erroneous entries with a pen in such a manner as to leave the original entries legible. (3) These corrections shall be made by two officers in the case of an important office and by the officer-in-charge only in the case
of an unimportant office where he works single-handed. Except when an obvious error has been committed, they shall be accepted in
preference to the original statement.
(4) A verification certificate, in conformity with the specimen form annexed to this Arrangement, shall be prepared by the receiving
office and sent without delay to the despatching office.
(5) The despatching office, after examination, shall return the verification certificate with any observations to which it may give
rise,
(6) In case of the non-receipt of a mail or of the letter bill, the fact shall immediately be reported by means of a verification
certificate by the office of destination to the despatching office.
As soon as a mail which had been reported to the office of origin as missing comes to hand, a second verification certificate shall
be addressed to that office announcing the receipt of the mail.
(7) When the office of destination has not forwarded to the despatching office, by the first mail, after verification, a certificate
reporting errors or irregularities of any kind the absence of that document shall be regarded as evidence of the due receipt of the
mail and its contents, until the contrary be proved.
Article 12
Neither of the two contracting parties shall send to the other by post any article the importation or transmission of which by post
is prohibited in the latter country, or, any article which is liable to customs duty. Each Administration shall communicate to the
other a list of the articles so prohibited. Any postal article which has been erroneously given transmission, shall be returned to
the country of origin, except in cases where the Administration of the country of destination is authorised by its laws or by its
internal regulations to dispose of it otherwise. Explosives, inflammable or dangerous substances, obscene or immoral articles, however,
shall not be returned to the country of origin; when their presence is detected by the Administration of the country of destination,
they shall be destroyed on the spot.
Article 13
The Postal Administration of India will forward to such of the member countries of the Universal Postal Union as indicated by the
Postal Administration of Bhutan, articles of correspondence of Bhutanese origin under the provisions of Article 7 of U.P. Convention,
Ottawa, 1957. No transit charge will be levied by the Indian posts and Telegraphs Administration for forwarding such mails to those
foreign countries either by surface or by air. The Bhutan Administration will prescribe appropriate postage rates for surface and
air mail correspondence, which will be in conformity with the Indian Postage rates.
Article 14
The present Arrangement shall take effect on the 11th September, 1962. It shall then continue in force until it shall be modified
or determined by mutual consent of the contracting parties or until six months after the date on which one of the contracting parties
shall have notified the other of its intention to terminate it.
EXECUTED in duplicate and signed.
At New Delhi, the 11th September, 1962.
Sdl-
M. DAYAL LHENDUP DORJI
Acting Prime Minister,
Bhutan. MAHESHWAR DAYAL
Member (Posts, Press and Telegraphs, Board)
New Delhi (India). ANNEXURE."'A"
LETTER BILL
Mail ( the despatch) from the office of exchange of-------------------------
For the office of exchange of --------------------------------- sent
on the----------------- 19 at Hours Minutes
Arrived on the----------------- 19 at
Stamp of the office of
Stamp of the office
despatch
of destination. No.----------------------of the mail And number of bags-------------------------------- Number of bags composing the mail including bags----------------------------------- Containing empty bags Official notes----------------------------------------- Total number of articles dispatched ------------------------ Officer of the dispatching Officer of the receiving
Office of exchange Office of exchange -------------------------------------------- --------------------------- Administration Correspondence Office of stamp of -----------------
stamp of the office of dispatch Stamp of the office
of destination.
Verification certificate for reporting and correcting errors and irregularities of all kinds in the mail No. -------------------------from the office of exchange of for the office of exchange of dispatch of the ...................... 19
at .....................H.............. Various errors or irregularities. Non receipt of the mail or of the letter bill, abstraction from the mail, bag torn or in bad condition
etc. on the----------------------19-------------------on the-----------------19 Officers of the office of Exchange Examined and accepted of destination -----------------------------Head of the dispatching
Office of exchange. | 