Spanish Correos Postal Tax (Postage Due) for Insufficient Postage

A cover was sent without stamp by dropping into a postal box at Es Cuco in San Jose on 23 May 2013 to an address in Malaysia.

It was returned to the address written on the reverse side of the cover on 3 June 2013. The postage due shows €0.90 for collection. But the cover was delivered without any penalty.

Malaysia falls under International - Zone 2 and normal letter up to 20g is charged for €0.90 (as of new price increase on 1 January 2013) hence the tax value.

Cover size: 220 x 110 mm
Postage Due label size: 40 x 45 mm

Postage Due Label

Mod. T-1
CORREOS

ENVIO CON FRANQUEO
INSUFICIENTE

CANTIDAD A ABONAR

T = 0'90 / 0'90

Translated as,

Mod. T-1

POSTAL SERVICE

 

SHIPPING WITH POSTAGE

INSUFFICIENT

 

AMOUNT TO PAY

T = 0'90 / 0'90

Postage Due

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.