JOINT CIRCULAR No. 8-TTLB/NH/BĐ on the receipt, delivery, transfer, and issuance of bank document envelopes through the Post

CIRCULAR

OF THE POSTAL GENERAL DEPARTMENT - STATE BANK OF VIETNAM NO. 8-TTLB/NH/BĐ OF JULY 27, 1987 ON THE HANDLING, RECEIVING, TRANSFERRING AND DELIVERING OF BANK DOCUMENT ENVELOPES THROUGH POSTAL SERVICES

To ensure the requirements for economic activities of banking agencies at all levels, industries, and economic units nationwide, to meet new circumstances, the State Bank of Vietnam and the Postal General Department stipulate the handling, receiving, transferring, and delivering of bank document envelopes through postal services as follows:

I. GENERAL PROVISIONS

1. The Postal Service, with its functions, is responsible for ensuring the prompt and secure delivery of bank payment document envelopes from all levels to the addresses indicated on the envelopes.

2. All banking units must fully comply with regulations regarding sending, receiving, paying postage fees, and other procedures as prescribed by the Postal General Department and this Circular.

3. Banking units sending and receiving bank payment document envelopes (including inter-bank envelopes, payment envelopes, and envelope transfers of financial limits) must enter into specific contracts with postal facilities directly responsible for their delivery. These contracts must clearly specify the time of sending, time of receipt, use of postal service types, methods of payment for postage, and responsibilities of each party in case of errors or loss of bank document envelopes.

II. SPECIFIC PROVISIONS

1. The Postal General Department shall notify the State Bank of Vietnam of the time standards for delivery and circulation of documents between provinces, cities, and special zones (current and whenever changes occur).

Provincial, city, and special zone post offices shall notify provincial, city, and special zone banks of the time standards for delivery and circulation of internal and inter-provincial documents (current and whenever changes occur).

County and town post offices within provinces, cities, and special zones shall inform banking units at the same level about the time standards for delivery and circulation of documents from the province to the county and vice versa.

2. Banking units must send payment documents using envelopes with pre-agreed sizes, colors, and symbols with the Postal Service.

Based on the time standards for document delivery announced by the Postal Service, banking units must deliver envelopes to the post office before the post office's operating hours and follow the procedures for sending letters. If sent after regular operating hours, the post office will arrange for delivery in the next available dispatch.

3. To ensure rapid processing of such documents, local post offices may operate under system II. All bank document envelopes specified in point 3, part I are automatically subject to the use of special postal tools such as registration, express delivery, and air mail (for routes served by air).

Postal facilities shall guide banking units on postal procedures to facilitate easy tracing when necessary.

Upon receipt of system II mail, postal facilities shall immediately open the mailbags based on established standards, select envelopes with bank-specific symbols, and promptly process postal procedures to deliver them to the designated recipients according to the special tools used.

Both parties must agree on specific times for handover (including holidays and Sundays). Handovers must be recorded in the bank's logbook, specifying the date, time, name of the recipient, and the recipient must sign the bank's envelope handover logbook.

4. Postage charges for the delivery of these document envelopes are calculated based on the weight of each envelope, including basic postage and additional postal services shown on the envelope, according to the Postal General Department's tariff schedule. If delivery is requested outside regular business hours, the bank requesting such service must pay additional out-of-hours delivery charges to the post office.

Payment of postage charges between the sending bank and the receiving post office for these document envelopes shall be made in the following ways:

- By stamps affixed to each envelope.

- By payment through a check for each dispatch.

- By maintaining a record of each dispatch and at the end of each month, the post office shall notify the bank to make payment by bank transfer. The method of payment for postage charges is as follows:

If payment is made according to the third method, each month, the banking unit sending the document envelopes must prepay half (1/2) of the previous month's postage charges to the post office, with the remaining amount to be paid at the end of the month.

If the banking agency does not prepay half of the previous month's postage charges, at the end of the month when paying the current month's postage charges, they must also pay an additional percentage (equal to the interest rate for state-owned enterprise deposits) on half of the current month's postage charges.

5. Whenever errors occur, both sides' facilities must immediately examine the situation, determine the cause and responsibility, and report promptly and specifically to higher-level banking and postal authorities. If postal errors result in loss, damage, or significant delays, the post office must refund the entire postage charge collected for that envelope (including basic and additional postal service charges).

III. IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

1. The State Bank of Vietnam and the Postal General Department are responsible for guiding units within their sectors to strictly adhere to the provisions of this Circular.

2. During implementation, both sides should exchange experiences and promptly report unusual situations to each other for timely discussion and corrective measures.

Monthly, banking and postal facilities at the same level shall meet to exchange information and report to higher-level banking and postal authorities on issues requiring resolution to implement unified guidance measures.

3. This Circular takes effect from the date of issuance.