%20%20-%20Menu.svg){kind=small}
.png?width=879&height=549&name=Page%2074%20(1).png)
Top 10 key factors to consider when choosing the top courier services in India
Though we have given you our top 15 choices of the best logistics companies available in India, we understand that it’s impossible to contact each company one by one and assess their services.
That’s why, we’ve come up with 10 tips that will help you decide on the courier you want to move forward. Let’s start!
1. Coverage and Reach
First things first, you need to look at the service areas of the logistics company you’re planning to tie with. However, it’s not always the case that the more carriers it covers, the better the results. You’ll need to evaluate whether it’s serving those areas where most of the orders come from.
At the same time, check if it has the bandwidth to handle a high volume of orders. This, in turn, will help you easily deal with your weekly and monthly order volumes without any hassles.
2. Delivery Speed
Because of the growing popularity of Quick Commerce in India, businesses are scrambling to keep up with customers’ lightning-fast delivery demand. Today’s customers even want 2-hour hyperlocal delivery. To some extent, it mostly depends on the eCommerce vertical you’re in. If you’re in the Foods & Beverage industry, look for one that offers hyperlocal delivery.
Likewise, if you’re in the B2B sector, you may opt for the one that is good at standard delivery service. However, it’s always a good approach to go for logistics providers that offer different types of delivery services — from standard shipping services to premium shipping services, overnight shipping, economy shipping, and more.
3. Service Cost
If you’re running a business, you must have allocated a specific budget to shipping. Now, different carriers have different budgets. These mostly include the pay-as-you-go model, subscription plan, flat-rate pricing, weight-based shipping, and more.
Assess the pricing plans of these services against your order volume, check your marketing budget, and then go for the one that suits you the best. Now, if you’re going for value-added services like temperature-controlled delivery, picking, packing, and returns management, you’ll have to pay extra to the shipping company.
4. Reliability and Reputation
Next, you need to check the track record of that logistics provider. how long it has been here in this company, the number of orders it has delivered, how many shipments it can handle each day, the number of service centers it has established within this country, etc.
You can also use tools like a website whois checker to verify the company’s domain details and ensure it’s a legitimate and established business. Also, search customer reviews on Google. If possible, tap into your network and go for the one that suits you the best.
5. Cash on Delivery (COD) Options
COD is the most preferred payment method in India. In fact, 62% of Indian customers opt for pay on delivery method for online shopping. Most of the time, these carrier companies offer COD services as value-added services. So, before choosing any company, check whether it offers COD service, so you can reach a variety of customers, even in remote areas of the country.
6. Return and RTO (Return to Origin) Management
If you have been in this business for quite some time, you will definitely face failed delivery issues. In fact, almost every business faces RTO once a day. Now what differentiates a brand from the competitors is whether it has a proper mechanism and system to manage these NDR cases.
Look for things like:
-
How many attempts does the company make to resolve the NDRs?
-
Does it have other channels to communicate with the customers if NDR cases happen?
-
Is it an automated system or a manual one?
-
Does it give proper NDR reports?
If the logistics company checks all these boxes, go for that.
7. Tracking and Technology Integration
Even though we can’t expect a logistics company to provide top technology services like shipping software, it must provide basic technology solutions to streamline logistics operations.
These can be order tracking, delivery notifications, digital POD, integrations with platforms, etc. These digital solutions will help you track each shipment and ease the entire process. It will also help you easily coordinate with customers and improve their shopping experience.
8. Customer Support
Logistics has its own challenges. You might face delivery delays, damaged shipments, issues with reverse shipments, and more. In such a situation, if you don’t get direct support from the customer support team, you may feel lost.
This, in turn, can severely impact your customers’ shopping experience. Hence, ensure the courier company provides multiple channels to reach the customer support team and they offer swift responses to every customer query they get.
9. Security and Insurance
If you’re into selling high-value items like jewelry, expensive furniture, gemstones, or designer handbags, you need to opt for shipping protection. On the one hand, it gives you peace of mind, and on the other hand, it keeps your business safe from potential financial losses that can arise from shipment loss, theft, and damage during shipment. Hence, when choosing the best courier company in India, always look for the one that provides shipping protection as one of its value-added services.
10. Handling of High-Value and Fragile Items
Shipping high-value items and fragile items is a challenge on its own. They are more susceptible to theft and damage during transit. That’s why they need to be handled with extra care, so they can reach the end consumer safely and securely.
Most of the time, courier companies offer special packaging solutions for handling these items, including reinforced boxes, cushioning materials, and temperature-controlled services. So, if you ship high-value items, you must look for these services.
Conclusion
And that’s it! Courier companies play a crucial role in the growth of the eCommerce business. Without the best logistics service provider, it’ll be challenging to manage the entire shipping process, ensure timely deliveries, and maintain customer satisfaction.
That’s why, we rounded up a list of the top 10 best courier companies in India. Each of them provides world-class logistics solutions along with value-added services, like real-time tracking, secure packaging, etc.
We hope our guide will help you make the right choice when it comes to tying up with the best courier partners. Here’s to your success!
Frequently asked questions (FAQ's)
1. What are the top 10 courier companies in India?
A practical top-10 list most shippers recognize is: India Post (Speed Post), DTDC, Blue Dart, Delhivery, Ecom Express, XpressBees, Shadowfax, Gati, FedEx, DHL (India).
The “right” top 10 changes by what you ship (documents vs heavy parcels), where you ship (metros vs remote), and whether you need COD and returns.
2. What are the top 5 courier companies in India?
A common top-5 shortlist is Delhivery, Blue Dart, DTDC, India Post (Speed Post), Ecom Express.
Together, they cover a mix of reach, ecommerce readiness, and express options—though your best 5 may differ by lane and shipment profile.
3. Which courier service is best in India?
There’s no one “best” courier across every scenario—the best courier is the one that hits your PIN codes with the TAT and success rate you need at your cost target.
If you’re shipping ecommerce parcels, look beyond speed: COD remittance timelines, return pickup success, and exception handling matter just as much.
4. Which is the No. 1 courier company in India?
“#1” depends on the job: premium express speed, lowest cost, or widest reach.
If you’re deciding for business shipping, treat it like a routing decision—pick “#1 per lane,” not “#1 overall.”
5. Which courier is fastest in India?
Fastest is typically premium air/priority services on metro-to-metro lanes, not one fixed brand everywhere.
A courier can be lightning-fast in Delhi–Mumbai and average on a tier-3 lane—so always check the committed SLA for your exact origin/destination PIN pair.
6. Which is the cheapest courier service in India?
For walk-in, low-cost domestic shipping, India Post is often the cheapest baseline—especially for lighter parcels and documents.
Private couriers can beat it when you have volume contracts, fixed lanes, or negotiated slabs.
7. Which courier is both cheap and fast in India?
You usually don’t get “cheapest” and “fastest” from the same service tier.
The realistic approach is: use economy for low-urgency, and priority/air for urgent orders—or route orders across carriers so each shipment gets the right tradeoff.
8. Which courier service is safest in India for high-value items?
The safest option is the one that offers clear liability/insurance, trackable milestones, and strong proof-of-delivery controls.
For expensive items, prioritize packaging standards, tamper-proofing, and an easy claims process over a “fastest” promise.
9. Which courier service is best for fragile items in India?
For fragile shipments, pick a courier that supports special handling + reliable last-mile + documented POD.
Also: fragile success is 50% courier, 50% packing—double-boxing, cushioning, and edge protection usually make the biggest difference.
10. Which courier service is best for documents in India?
For documents, most people choose between Speed Post (cost-effective, wide reach) and premium express services (faster, higher cost).
Your deciding factors: pickup availability, delivery commitment, and whether you need time-definite delivery.
11. Which courier service is best for ecommerce in India?
For ecommerce, the “best” courier is the one that performs on COD, returns pickups, delivery attempt success, and exception resolution—not just transit time.
Many brands end up using multiple carriers so each order is assigned based on PIN, promised delivery date, and cost.
12. Which courier service is best for an ecommerce startup or small business?
Start with one dependable national courier + India Post as a fallback for hard-to-serve PIN codes, then add more carriers as volume grows.
Small businesses win by reducing chaos: consistent pickup, fewer failed deliveries, and predictable remittance cycles.
13. How many courier companies are there in India?
There isn’t one stable public count because the market includes national networks, regional couriers, hyperlocal fleets, and B2B operators, and new players keep entering.
A safe way to state it: India has hundreds of widely used courier brands and thousands of operators when you include regional and local providers.
14. Is DTDC better than Delhivery?
DTDC can be a strong option when you want broad access through an established network and mixed shipping needs. Delhivery is often preferred for ecommerce-heavy shipping at scale.
The honest answer is lane-based: compare serviceability, pickup reliability, COD timelines, and return pickup success for your specific PIN clusters.
15. Is DTDC faster than India Post (Speed Post)? Which is better?
Speed Post can be surprisingly efficient for many lanes and is often value-priced, while DTDC may offer more service variants and business conveniences like scheduled pickups.
To decide, compare the promised TAT, pickup experience, and tracking/POD reliability for your typical shipment lanes.