Victims of such services complained that letters and parcels do not reach the destinations within the specified time frame, sometimes causing loss to the sender and receiver at the same time.

"I had a parcel containing some valuable documents sent from Dhaka to Feni. The service provider assured me that it would reach its destination, the next day. But the delivery was actually made four days later," said Munir Hossain, a resident of Kamalapur.

Hossain said he had to make a number of calls to the courier service office and went through a period of anxiety till the parcel had reached its destination.

"When I asked the agent for an explanation, he said that there was a problem on the way, and said I should not worry anymore as the parcel eventually reached its destination," complained Hossain.

Others had worse experiences. "I sent some valuable items and a letter to my parents in Bikrampur. The parcel disappeared and I have not been able to trace it yet," said Motiur, a Dhaka University student.

Motiur asked the courier service agents to trace the package but they were of little help.

"I later learnt that the package went missing from the passenger bus, which was used as a carrier by this service," said Motiur.

He was compensated with Tk 1,000 by the courier service.

"I still feel the letter that I had written to my mother and the memorable items, are worth millions to me," he said.

Some users are not as fortunate as Motiur. A majority of these courier services lack the financial base and the goodwill to compensate customers.

City dwellers alleged that most courier services are inept in carrying out their business.

"Most services are just small businesses with very little working capital and to balance the expenditure they reserve space in passenger buses and heavy trucks that ply the highways regularly," said Rafiqul Alam, from Green Road.

Alam has been using the services of local and zonal couriers over the last five years. He said that reliability and efficiency of these services are questionable.

Some customers also alleged that the agents and attendants hired by these services are rude to customers.

"I went to the office of a service last month. The attendant there continued doing other things while I waited for over 10 minutes. When I finally demanded for some service, he was very rude to me," said Nilufar Haque, a city-dweller.

Authorities of a few courier services said that the activities of these services are illegal and are exploiting customers.

"Customers should be informed of probable accidental delays, the minimum and maximum length of delivery and other details about the service, before engaging in any transaction with them," said an agent of a courier service at Kalabagan, under condition of anonymity.

Others pointed out that most of these services are not members of the Courier Service Association of Bangladesh (CSAB).

"Members of the association have to provide a certain standard of service to its customers," said a member of the association.

CSAB is affiliated to Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) and approved by the Commerce Ministry.

Customers and authorities of better courier services alleged that these 'low-grade' services are getting away with all the mistakes they make, because of the non-existence of a monitoring body. "We had applied to the concerned authorities for the formulation a specific code by which all courier services should abide," said Hafizur Rahman Pulok, Deputy Managing Director, Sundarban Courier services and a member of the CSAB.

But such a code is yet to be formulated and implemented by the governing authorities.

"We are hoping that the authorities will soon implement this code, which would facilitate the activities of honest and sincere courier services and help to maintain their reputation through standard services to customers," said Rahman.