Over the past month, Mumbai’s post offices have grappled with a shortage of Rs 5 postage stamps. According to a senior official at the General Post Office in Mumbai, the Circle Stamps Depot in Nashik has not supplied Rs 5 stamps for the entire month. Consequently, post offices have been compelled to distribute Re 1, Rs 2, and Rs 3 stamps.
The scarcity is particularly pronounced in post offices located in Fort and Nariman Point, which handle a substantial portion of the city’s official mail. An official mentioned that these offices regularly dispatch a significant volume of standard mails requiring stamps. To address the shortfall in supply, smaller denomination stamps have been issued for the past month.
Despite this challenge, senior postal department officials assert that there has been no disruption in services. Thus far, there haven’t been any complaints from users. The official clarified that post office operations continue seamlessly despite the absence of Rs 5 stamps. As a workaround, commemorative stamps, unsold at philately counters for six months, have been issued to compensate for the shortage of regular Rs 5 stamps.
However, there remains uncertainty about when the supply of stamps from Nashik will resume, as per the official’s statement.