Postage Due - Background

Background

While the problem of what to do about letters not paying the full correct fee had existed since the creation of regular postal systems, it was greatly heightened by the advent of postage stamps, since customers were now making their own decisions about the right amount to pay, without the assistance of a presumably-knowledgeable postal clerk.

While at various times some countries have simply adopted the expedient of returning the letter to the sender, many others have taken the approach of delivering the letter and collecting the fee from the recipient. Initially the process was handled by a clerk writing something like "Due 3 cents" on the cover, but this was subject to abuse by mail carriers, who might write it on themselves and pocket the difference.

When the Universal Postal Union was founded in 1874 the problem with underpaid foreign mail was dealt with. The U.P.U. arrived at the decision that mail with insufficient postage should be marked with a "T" and from April 1, 1879 the amount missing would also be indicated in black. Later more countries started to use handstamps to indicate the amount due. Later the combination of handstamps with both the "T" and the amount missing came into use. From October 1, 1907 the rules were changed. The amount due would be charged instead of the amount missing would be indicated. The amount charged was usually double the amount that was missing.