Revised Standard Operating Procedure for Contractual Customer Management in APT 2.0 with modified account codes for CGST/SGST/UTGST/IGST

 

 

STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE (Revised)

Contractual Customer Management – Booking/Billing/Settlement/Apportionment

Issued by: Mail Operations Division, Dak Bhawan, New Delhi
Date: 6th February 2026 (Ver 1.1)

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1. INTRODUCTION

Contractual Customers of Department of Posts are registered either as:

• Advance Customer (Pre-Paid)
• BNPL Customer (Post-Paid)

Categories:

• Limited to one Booking Office
• Multiple Booking Offices within same Circle (Circle Account Facility – CAF)
• Multiple Booking Offices in Multiple Circles (National Account Facility – NAF)

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2. BACKGROUND

After APT implementation, revenue from Contractual Customers was not properly accounted in e-Lekha. Revenue apportionment for NAF Customers was not done. PAF Wing issued clarification on 03.12.2025. Analysis conducted at Delhi Circle (Sarojininagar HO & AMPC) revealed multiple issues.

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3. ISSUES / CHALLENGES

A. At Booking Stage:

• Wrong Customer ID selection
• Wrong Excel file upload
• Double Booking due to APT slowness
• Soft Copy upload treated as manual booking
• Non-cancellation of wrong booking
• Bookings in SAP by non-migrated offices
• Non-availability of customer details

B. Invoicing:

• Incorrect billing due to wrong booking data
• Incorrect discount applied by system
• Only one GST Invoice for all locations in NAF Customers
• Manual Invoice generation due to incorrect APT billing

C. Invoice Settlement & Accounting:

• Advance Customers: APT auto-settles invoices from deposit. Manual invoices cause amount differences and incorrect customer balances.
• BNPL Customers: Manual invoices cannot be settled. Revenue & GST not accounted; amount lying in Postmaster's Account.

D. GST Invoicing:

• NAF Customer invoice raised with Nodal Office GSTIN for all locations across Circles.
• Relevant State/UT GST is associated with revenue but invoicing is centralized.

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4. SCENARIOS AND MITIGATION

(Till automated processes are built in APT System)

A. Discrepancy in APT Invoice – Issue of Manual Invoice

Applicable to: Advance & BNPL Customers

Scenarios:

1. Discrepancy in APT generated invoice
2. Booking location-wise invoices for NAF Customers

Process for CAF/NAF Customers:

• Nodal Office provides APT generated invoice to all Booking Locations
• Booking Locations verify correctness
• If discrepancy found OR even if no discrepancy, draft manual invoice prepared
• Draft invoice sent to Nodal Office
• Nodal Office consolidates, applies uniform discount rate, prepares location-wise GST invoices
• Invoices sent to Customer and Booking Location
• Booking Location files GST returns based on manual invoices
• Credit Note/Debit Note issued by Nodal Office for already filed returns

Note: Manual invoices supervised by Divisional Office.

B. Accounting Adjustment – Advance Customers

• If APT Invoice value less than Manual Invoice: Difference posted via Misc. Transaction by Booking Location/Nodal Office.
• If APT Invoice value more than Manual Invoice: Transfer Entry by DDO (Booking Location/Nodal Office).
• Support desk ticket raised to CEPT for updating Customer Balance in APT.

C. Accounting Adjustment – BNPL Customers

• APT invoice cannot be cleared due to amount mismatch.
• Total Manual Invoice value + GST posted via Misc. Transaction by Booking Location/Nodal Office.
• Support desk ticket raised to CEPT to mark APT invoice as settled and reset Credit Limit.

D. Apportionment of Revenue – NAF Customers between Circles

• Done through Transfer Entry in APT by DDO of Nodal Office (Advance & BNPL).
• Pending apportionment to be processed.
• Net revenue after discount + associated GST transferred.
• Separate Transfer Entries for each Customer and Booking Location.
• PAO verifies and approves Transfer Entry.
• Transfer Entry Report sent to Booking Location and concerned offices.
• Booking Location posts Misc. Transaction to account revenue and GST.
• Divisional Office monitors and ensures GST return filing.

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5. STAKEHOLDERS

• Booking Location
• Nodal Office (CAF/NAF Customers)
• DDO of Booking Location
• DDO of Nodal Office
• Divisional Office of DDOs
• Regional / Circle Offices
• Postal Accounts Office (PAO)
• CEPT

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