With just four days to go for the Raksha Bandhan festival, visitors flocking post offices across Ludhiana to send rakhis and gifts to their siblings were left stranded on Monday after a major technical glitch during the roll-out of advance software IT 2.0, brought all postal services, including rakhi mail bookings through speed post, and registered post, to a complete halt.
Reportedly, the disruption followed a nationwide software upgrade implemented by the India Post on Monday, which has led to severe service inefficiencies. While upgrading the tech is part of a larger digital overhaul of postal systems across the country, the simultaneous roll-out has caused log in failures and long system buffer times at local post offices, leaving staff helpless and customers frustrated.
Notably, the issue isn’t new. Several post offices in Ludhiana have been facing erratic services since Thursday, particularly in speed post and registered post both widely used for sending rakhis and festive packages.
Explaining the disruptions, Manpreet Singh, a staff at the Millerganj post office said, “Even after logging into our respective IDs, the system keeps buffering and fails to process the bookings. Raksha Bandhan is our busiest season. With high volumes of bookings and deliveries, it’s disheartening to face fuming customers and be unable to help.”
Meanwhile, Gagandeep Kaur, a resident visiting the Millerganj branch, said, “ I have been coming here since Thursday hoping to send rakhi to my brother, but every time they ask me to come the next day. It’s already delayed, and now I’m not sure if it will even reach him before Raksha Bandhan.”
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, Gagandeep Kaur, a resident visiting the Millerganj branch, said, “ I have been coming here since Thursday hoping to send rakhi to my brother, but every time they ask me to come the next day. It’s already delayed, and now I’m not sure if it will even reach him before Raksha Bandhan.”
{{/usCountry}}Vandita Jain, another customer at the head post office on Ferozepur Road, shared, “My son works in Delhi and could not get leave this year. I packed a few goodies to send, but the booking counter staff told me the system is down. I always rely on the post office, but this time I might go for a private courier.”
Along with the visitors, postal staff too expressed frustration over the major technical fallout. An employee at the head post office admitted that the situation has been equally taxing for them by stating, “We’re bearing the brunt of public anger every day. The new software was supposed to streamline operations, but its abrupt roll-out has only created more confusion and chaos,” the employee said.
Prashant Singla, superintendent of the head post office, acknowledged the problem and assured that services would likely be restored by Tuesday morning. “The issue occurred because the advanced software was installed simultaneously across India. With a pan-India log in, the system collapsed. We’re working on restoring services at the earliest.”