Postal Index Number

It has, more or less, become a practice to write down the PIN code at the end of the address. But, many who write this might not be understanding about its importance.

PIN is the short form of Postal Index Number. This code system was introduced on August 15th 1972. As per this system all Post Offices in India are indicated by a six digit number. Branch Post Offices will have the same number as that of its Account Office. India is a vast country with people using different languages in different parts and sometimes having the same name for post offices lying far away. There are more than one and a half lakh post offices in this country. Under such a set up the sorting and delivery always led to wrong delivery or missing of the postal articles. The introduction of PIN improved the situation to a very large extent.

The first three digits of a PIN code help understanding in which sorting district of which State is the post office. PIN code starting with 1 stand for post offices in Jammu- Kashmir and Delhi. The post offices in Kerala and Tamil Nadu start with 6. Seeing the first two digits the state can be identified. For example, 67 to 69 are allotted for Kerala. The Kasargod district gets 671. Thrissur district is denoted by 680 and Thiruvananthapuram has 695.

From these it is clear that how important is to write the PIN code while writing an address. It guarantees the delivery of the postal article.