L.R.O. 1/2012
LAWS OF GUYANA
POST AND TELEGRAPH ACT
CHAPTER 47:01
Act
21 of 1893
Amended by

11 of 1927 Reg. 18/1940 6 of 1933 13/1976 8 of 1935 O. 80/1980 5 of 1939 5
16 of 1939 7 of 1945
26 of 1949 48 of 1950 33 of 1954 30
8
4
13
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12
6
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of
of
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1957
1966B
1972
1976
1985
1990
1997

Current Authorised Pages
Pages
(inclusive)
Authorised
by L.R.O.
1 – 68 ... 1/2012
LAWS OF GUYANA
2 Cap. 47:01 Post and Telegraph
Index
of
Subsidiary Legislation
This Chapter contains no Subsidiary Legislation
Note
on
Subsidiary Legislation

At the time of this publication, all subsidiary legislation made under this Act
were being revised. As a result those items have been omitted.
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Post and Telegraph Cap. 47:01 3
CHAPTER 47:01
POST AND TELEGRAPH ACT
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
SECTION
1. Short title.
2. Interpretation.
3. Meaning of delivery to or from a post office.
PART I
ADMINISTRATION
Officers of the Post Office
4. Postmaster General.
5. Functions of Postmaster General.
6. Other officers.
7. Duties of officers.
8. Declaration to be made by officer on appointment.
9. Postal department.
Powers and Privileges of the Post Office and the Corporation
10. General powers and rights of the Post Office and the Corporation.
11. Exclusive privilege of Post Office as regards postal matters.
12. Exclusive privilege of Corporation as regards telegraphic matters.
13. Deputy of Postmaster General may give notice, or make claim, entry
or distress.
14. Exemption of officer from certain services.
15. Surrender of Post Office property on officer vacating office.
PART II
THE POST OFFICE
Duties of The Post Office
16. Charge on postal packets.
17. Membership of the Universal Postal Union.
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SECTION
18. Report of postal charges to National Assembly.
19. Payment of postage by receiver or sender.
20. Recovery of duties of postage.
21. Prima facie evidence afforded by postage mark.
22. Official mark evidence of amount of postage.
23. Licence to use postal franking machines.
24. Duties of stamps.
25. Privilege of providing stamped envelopes.
Conditions of Transit of Postal Packets
26. Regulations as to postal packets.
27. Power to authorise collection and delivery of letters otherwise than
by post.
28. Despatch and delivery of book packets and cards.
29. Prohibition of sending by post explosive, inflammable, or
deleterious substances, or indecent matter.
30. Printed matter sent without cover or in open cover.
31. Dealing with postal packet not sent in conformity with Act.
32. Dealing with postal packet containing contraband goods.
33. Liability for loss of postal packet.
34. Decision as to postal packet.
Money Orders
35. Provisions relating to money orders and postal orders.
Ship Letters
36. Duty of master of outward-bound vessel respecting mails.
37. Duty of master of inward-bound vessel respecting letters.
38. Opening mail bag by master of vessel, or letters by carrier.
39. Duty of officer of customs as to delivery of letters by master of
vessel.
40. Shipowners’ letters.
41. Gratuities to masters of vessels.
42. Retention of ship letters after delivery of letters to post office.
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SECTION
PART III
THE GOVERNMENT TELEGRAPH
General Powers
43. Power to construct and maintain telegraph.
44. User of public ways.
45. General description of works authorised.
Restrictions on Exercise of Powers
46. Restrictions on exercise of powers relating to execution of works.
47. Marking of tube or pipe.
48. Prohibition of impeding of traffic.
49. Protection of traffic.
50. Restrictions as to opening up of streets and roads.
51. Obligation to restore street or road opened.
52. Protection of rights of private property in respect of telegraph work.
53. Notice of intended telegraph.
54. Procedure on receipt of notice of objection to work.
55. Removal or alteration of work affecting land or building.
Miscellaneous Matters
56. Use of lights and signals.
57. Power to refer to arbitrator.
58. Provision as to notices and consents.
59. Compensation and penalty for injury to telegraph lines and for
interruption to telegraphic communication.
60. Obstructing Corporation in telegraph line work.
Government Telegraph Monopoly
61. (1) Meaning of “telegraph” in this section.
(2) Minister to have monopoly in maintaining telegraphs.
62. Power to require the production of telegrams.

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SECTION
Wireless Telegraphy
63. (1) Licence for wireless telegraphy.
(3) Unauthorised use.
(4) Search warrant.
(5) Regulations.
(6) Use of merchant ship’s apparatus.
64. (1) Meaning of “ship” in this section.
(2) Wireless telegraphy requirements.
(5) Inspection of ships.
(9) Nature of obligations.
(10)Application to ships not registered in the United Kingdom.
65. (1) Provisions of section 63 to apply to aircraft.
(2) Provisions of section 63 to apply to visual and sound signalling
stations.
(4) Explanation of the expression “transmission” in section 63 (7).
(5) Power of President in case of emergency to take control of
messages, and of Minister to make rules in connection therewith.
PART IV
MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
Post Office Offences
66. Stealing mail bag, postal packet or the contents, or stopping mail.
67. Receiving stolen mail bag, postal packet or its contents.
68. Fraudulent retention of mail bag, or postal packet.
69. Criminally diverting postal packet from addressee.
70. Embezzlement or destruction by officer of Post Office of mail bag or
postal packet.
71. Opening or delaying postal packet.
72. Carelessness, negligence or misconduct of person employed in
carriage or delivery of mail bag or postal packet.
73. Issuing money order with fraudulent intent.
74. Effect of postal order.
75. Fraudulent obliteration of crossing of postal order.
76. Application of law relating to stamp duties to postal orders.
77. Removal of stamp from postal matter.
78. Use by officer of Post Office of stamp a second time.
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SECTION
79. Use by other person of stamp a second time.
80. Prohibition of placing injurious substance in or against post office
letter box.
81. Prohibition of affixture on Post Office Property.
82. Prohibition of imitation of Post Office stamps, envelopes, forms and
marks.
83. Prohibition of fictitious stamp, international reply coupon, or postal
identity card.
office business.
transmission, or divulging contents of, telegram.
the Post Office.
Act.
Regulations and Fines
department.
SCHEDULE—Declaration of Officer of the Corporation.
__________________________
83A. Use of postage stamps for postal purposes.
84. Prohibition of false notice as to reception of letters.
85. Obstruction of officer of Post Office in execution of duty, or of post
86. Disclosing information by officer of Post Office.
87. Omission of officer of Post Office to transmit or delaying
88. Delivery of telegram to person other than addressee.
89. Sending telegram in false name.
90. Trial of offences.
91. Provisions as to property in offences relating to the Corporation or
92. Evidence of thing being postal packet.
93. Power to compound action.
94. Saving of liability under other law.
95. Regulation as to post office letter boxes.
96. Power to issue Post Office Guide.
96A. Application of certain provisions of the Stamp Duties (Management)
97. Making of regulations relating to postal business and the postal
98. Post Office fine fund.
99. Delegation of functions.
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8 Cap. 47:01 Post and Telegraph
1929 Ed.
c. 185
1953 Ed.
c. 132 _______________________________________________________
21 of 1893
CHAPTER 47:01
POST AND TELEGRAPH ACT
An Act to consolidate and amend the laws relating to the
Post Office and the Government Telegraph.
[1ST JANUARY, 1894]
Short title.
Interpretation.
[13 of 1976]

O. 11/1967
1. This Act may be cited as the Post and Telegraph
Act.
2. In this Act—
“agents” includes contractors, and also the officers, workmen,
or servants, as well of the Corporation or the Post Office,
undertakers, bodies, or persons, as of its or their
contractors;
“alteration,” “alter” and “altering,” in respect of a telegraphic
line, include the substitution of any new line or portion
of a line, either in the same place or in some other place,
and also any removal of or other dealing with any
telegraphic line or any part of that line;
“body” includes a body of trustees or commissioners,
municipal corporation, board, vestry, company, or
society, whether incorporated or not; and any provision
referring to a body applies to a person, as the case may
require;
“canal” includes any navigation or navigable river or creek,
and any dock, basin, towing path, wharf, work, or
building connected with a canal;
“the Corporation” means the Guyana Telecommunications
Corporation established by the Guyana
Telecommunication Corporation Order;
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“inland,” when used in relation to any postal packet or any
description thereof, means posted within Guyana and
addressed to some place in Guyana, and, when used in
relation to post or postage, means the post carrying or the
postage charged on the packet;
“land” means land which is not a street or a public road nor
land by the side and forming part thereof, and includes
lands laid out for, and proposed by the owner to be
converted into, a street or public road;
“mail” includes every conveyance by which postal packets
are carried, whether it is a carriage, coach, cart, horse,
vessel, or any other conveyance, and also a person
employed in conveying or delivering postal packets;
“mail bag” means a bag, box, or parcel, or any other envelope
in which postal packets are conveyed, whether it does or
does not contain postal packets;
“master,” as applied to a vessel, includes any person (not
being a pilot) for the time being having the charge or
command thereof, whether the vessel is a ship of war or
other vessel;
“officer of the Corporation” includes the General Manager
and any other person employed with the Corporation;
“officer of the Post Office” includes the Postmaster General,
Deputy Postmaster General, Assistant Postmaster
General and every clerk, postmaster, postal agent,
receiver, agent, officer, inspector, letter-carrier, postman,
Postmaster General or by any person under him or on
behalf of the Post Office;
“the Post Office” means the public corporation established by
guard, post boy, mecahnic- chauffeur, attendant,
messenger, or any other person employed in any busi-
business of the Post Office, whether employed by the
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the Public Corporation (Post Office) Order 1976;
“post office” means any house, building, room, carriage,
aircraft, vessel, or place where postal packets, or any of
them, are, by the permission or under the authority of the
Post Office received, delivered, sorted, or made up, or
from which postal packets, or any of them, are, by the
authority of the Postmaster General, despatched, and
includes any other place used for the purpose of the post
office and a post office letter-box;
“post office letter-box” includes any pillar-box, wall-box, or
other box or receptacle, provided, by the permission or
under the authority of the Post Office, for the purpose of
receiving postal packets, or any of them, for transmission
by or under the authority of the Post Office;
“postal packet” means anything in course of transmission by
post from the time of its delivery to a post office to the
time of its delivery to the person to whom it is addressed,
and, in the provisions of this Act for the protection or
benefit of the Post Office, for the protection of mails, mail
bags and officers of the Post Office, and touching
offences committed in relation to a postal packet,
includes a telegram;
“public road” means any public highway required to be
maintained under or by virtue of the Roads Act, and not
being a street, including the footpaths of that highway
and any bridge forming part thereof, and also any land
by the side and forming part of that highway, but not
including a railway or canal;
“the purpose of the post office” means any purpose of any of
the written laws for the time being in force relating to the
Post Office, post office money orders, postal orders, post
office telegraphs, or post office savings banks, and
includes any purpose relating to or in connection with
the execution of the duties for the time being undertaken
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by the Postmaster General or any of his officers;
“railway” includes any station, work, or building connected
with a railway;
“the regulations” means regulations made under any
Ordinance hereby repealed, or under this Act, and for the
time being in force;
“street” means any public way situated within a city, town, or
village, or between lands continuously built upon on
either side, and repaired at the public expense, or at the
expense of any municipal or village rate, including the
footpaths of that way and any bridge forming part
thereof;
“telegram” means any message or other communication
transmitted or intended for transmission by a telegraph,
and includes any message or other communication
transmitted or intended for transmission by a telephone
or by any similar instrument or means;
“telegraph” means a wire or wires used for the purpose of
telegraphic communication, with any casing, coating,
tube, or pipe enclosing it or them, and apparatus
connected therewith for the purpose of telegraphic
communication; and includes any apparatus for
transmitting messages or other communications by
means of electricity;
“telegraph line” means telegraphs, posts, and any work, and
also any cables, apparatus, pneumatic or other tube, pipe,
or thing whatsoever, used for the purpose of transmitting
telegraphic messages or other communications by means
of electricity or maintaining telegraphic communication,
and includes any portion of a telegraphic line as defined
by this Act;
“telegraph post” means any post, pole, standard, stay, strut,
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Meaning of
delivery to or
from a post
office.
or other above-ground contrivance for carrying,
suspending, or supporting a telegraph;
“tree” means any tree, branch, wood, underwood, or other
produce of the soil;
“undertakers” means the parties, whether trustees,
commissioners, corporation, company, or private
persons, empowered by any statute to execute an
undertaking, and any lessee or tenant thereof;
“undertaking” means any work or undertaking, of whatever
nature, the execution of which is authorised by any
statute;
“wireless telegraphy” means any system of communication
by telegraph without the aid of any wire connecting the
points from and at which the messages or other
communications are sent and received;
“work” includes telegraphs and telegraph posts.
3. For the purposes of this Act –
(a) the delivery of a postal packet to a
letter carrier or other person
authorised to receive letters for the
post shall be a delivery to a post
office; and
(b) the delivery of a postal packet at the
house or office of the person to whom
the packet is addressed, or to him or
to his servant or other person
authorised to receive the packet,
according to the usual manner of
delivering that person’s letters, shall
be a delivery to the person addressed.
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Postmaster
General.
[13 of 1976]
c. 19:05
Functions of
Postmaster
General.
[13 of 1976]
Other officers.
[13 of 1976]
c. 19:05
Duties of
officers.
[13 of 1976]

Declaration to
be made by
officer on
appointment.
[13 of 1976]
Schedule.

Postal
department.
[13 of 1976]
PART I
ADMINISTRATION
Officers of the Post Office
4. The Postmaster General for Guyana shall be the
person appointed to that office pursuant to section 22(1) of the
Public Corporations Act as modified for the purpose by
section 3 of the Post and Telegraph (Amendment) Act 1976.

5. Subject to this Act and the Public Corporations Act,
the Postmaster General shall be the chief executive officer of
the Post Office which shall have the management and charge
of, and shall exercise supervision over, the postal system
established under this Act.
6. The number of other officers of the Post Office
necessary for the service of the Post Office and for the
transmission and reception of telegrams shall be those
persons appointed as such by the Post Office pursuant to
section 22(2) of the Public Corporations Act.
7. Every officer of the Corporation and every officer of
the Post Office shall perform the duties in the Corporation
and the Post Office respectively prescribed by this Act and
any other law relating thereto and subject thereto, those
assigned to them by the Minister.
8. Every officer of the Corporation and every officer of
the Post Office, except the General Manager and the
Postmaster General shall, on appointment, appear before a
magistrate and make a declaration in the appropriate form set
out in the Schedule, or in any other form for the time being
prescribed by the Minister.
9. The Post Office shall constitute the postal
department of Guyana.

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General powers
and rights of
the Post Office
and the
Corporation.
[13 of 1976]
Exclusive
privilege of
Post Office as
regards postal
matters.
[13 of 1976
6 of 1997]
Powers and Privileges of the Post Office and the Corporation
10. (1) The Post Office may establish post offices in
any places in Guyana where the public convenience requires
them, and may collect, receive, despatch and convey, in the
manner the Post Office deems convenient, all postal packets
transmitted within, or to, or from, Guyana.
(2) The Corporation may establish telegram offices
in any places in Guyana where the public convenience
requires them.
11. (1) The Post Office shall have the exclusive
privilege of conveying from one place to another within
Guyana all letters, except in the following cases, and shall also
within Guyana have the exclusive privilege of performing all
the incidental services of receiving, collecting, sending,
despatching, and delivering all letters, except in the following
cases:
(a) letters sent by a private friend in his
way, journey, or travel so that those
letters are delivered by the friend to
the person to whom they are directed;
(b) letters sent by a messenger on
purpose, concerning the private
affairs of the sender or receiver
thereof;
(c) commissions or returns thereof, and
affidavits and writs, process or
proceedings, or returns thereof,
issuing out of or connected with a
court of justice;
(d) letters sent out of Guyana by a private
vessel, not being a packet boat;
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(e) letters of merchants, owners of vessels
of merchandise, or the cargo or
loading therein, sent by the vessels of
merchandise, or by any person
employed by the owners for the
carriage of the letters, according to
their respective directions, and
delivered to the respective persons to
whom they are directed, without
paying or receiving hire or reward, or
other profit or advantage, for them in
anywise;
(f) letters concerning goods or
merchandise sent by common known
carriers, to be delivered with the
goods which they concern, without
hire or reward, or other profit or
advantage, for receiving or delivering
them; and
(g) letters arriving by post in Guyana and
delivered by any officer of the Post
Office to the agents of the addresses
and letters for places out of Guyana
sent to be posted in Guyana:
Provided that nothing herein contained shall authorise
any person to make a collection of excepted letters aforesaid
for the purpose of sending them in the manner hereby
authorised.
(2) Subject as aforesaid, the following persons are
expressly forbidden to carry a letter, or to receive or collect or
deliver a letter, although they do not receive hire or reward
for it:
(a) common known carriers, their
servants or agents, except letters
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concerning goods in their carts or
wagons or on their pack animals, and
owners, drivers, or guards of stage
coaches;
(b) members of the police force, except
letters from an officer of police or a
constable in charge of a police station,
those letters being exclusively on the
business of the police department;
(c) owners, masters, or commanders of
ships, vessels, steam boats, droghers,
punts, or boats, called or being
passage or packet boats, sailing or
passing coastwise or otherwise
between ports or places within
Guyana, or their servants or agents,
except in respect of letters of
merchants, owners of ships, or goods
on board, or letters on the business of
plantations sent by droghers or punts
employed in the service of those
plantations;
(d) passengers or other persons on board
any ship, vessel, steam-boat, drogher,
punt, or passage or packet boat
aforesaid; and
(e) the owners of, or sailors, watermen, or
others on board, a ship, vessel, steam-
boat, or other boat or barge passing or
re-passing on a river or navigable
canal within Guyana.
(3) Every person who, not being authorised by or
in pursuance of this Act –
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Exclusive
privilege of
Corporation as
regards
telegraphic
matters.
[13 of 1976
(a) sends or causes to be sent, or tenders
or delivers in order to be sent, or
conveys, or performs any service
incidental to conveying, any letter not
excepted from the exclusive privilege
of the Post Office; or
(b) makes a collection of those excepted
letters for the purpose of conveying or
sending them by the post or
otherwise than by the post,

shall be liable to a fine of four thousand eight hundred and
seventy-five dollars for every such letter.
(4) Every person who is in the practice of doing
any of those things shall on conviction thereof be liable, for
every week during which the practice is continued, to a fine
of forty-eight thousand seven hundred and fifty dollars.
(5) In this section, the term “post” includes all post
communications by land or by water (except by outward-
bound vessels not being employed by or under the Post Office
or the Government to carry letters); and the above penalties
shall be incurred whether the letter is sent singly or with
anything else, or the incidental service is performed in respect
of a letter either sent or to be sent singly or together with
some other letter or thing; and, in any proceeding for the
recovery of the penalty, it shall lie upon the person
prosecuted to prove that the act in respect of which the
penalty is alleged to have been incurred was done in
conformity with this Act.
12. (1) The Corporation shall have the exclusive
privilege of transmitting from one place to another within
Guyana all telegrams, except in the following cases, and shall
also within Guyana have the exclusive privilege of
performing all the incidental services of receiving, collecting,
sending, despatching, and delivering all telegrams, except in
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the following cases, that is to say, telegrams transmitted-
(a) free of charge by a telegram service
maintained over private lands or used
solely for private purposes, and
relating to the business or private
affairs of the owner or owners thereof;
(b) by a telegram service maintained for
the private use of a corporation,
company, or person and in respect of
which, or of the receipt, collection,
transmission, or delivery of which, no
money or valuable consideration is or
is promised to be made or given;
(c) with the written licence or consent,
either special or general, of the
Corporation, which may be granted
on any terms and conditions to the
Corporation seeming fit;

(d) by any railway company within the
limits it is by any statute for the time
being in force empowered to transmit
them; and
(e) to or from any place out of Guyana by
any corporation, company, or person
thereto legally authorised.
(2) Any corporation, company, or person who-
(a) transmits, or aids or is concerned in
transmitting, any telegram in
contravention of the exclusive
privilege conferred on the
Corporation by this Act; or
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Deputy of
Postmaster
General may
give notice, or
make claim,
entry or
distress.
[13 of 1976]
Exemption of
officer from
certain services.
Surrender of
Post Office
property on
officer vacating
office.
[6 of 1997]
(b) receives, collects, sends, despatches,
or delivers any telegram in
contravention of that privilege, or aids
or is concerned in the receipt,
collection, sending, despatch or
delivery of the telegram in
contravention of that privilege,
shall be liable to a fine of four thousand eight hundred and
seventy-five dollars; and where any person offending against
this subsection is a servant or person hired to do the act of
which complaint is made, the master or other person
employing the servant shall, as well as the servant himself, be
liable to a like penalty for each offence.

13. Anyone having authority in that behalf either
general or special, by writing signed by the Postmaster
General, may, on behalf of the Postmaster General, give any
notice or make any demand, claim, entry, or distress which
the Postmaster General, in his official capacity or otherwise,
might give or make and the notice, demand, claim, entry, and
distress shall be deemed to have been given and made by the
Post Office.
14. Notwithstanding anything contained in any other
Act, an officer of the Post Office shall not be compelled to
serve on any jury or inquest.
15. (1) Where an officer of the Post Office vacates his
office (whether by reason of dismissal, resignation, death, or
otherwise) he, or, if he is dead, his personal representative or
the person so acting, shall deliver to the superior officer of the
Post Office for the time being directed by or in pursuance of
the regulations, all articles (whether uniform, accoutrements,
appointments, or other necessaries) which have been issued
to the officer vacating his office for the execution of his duty,
and are not, under the regulations, the property of that
officer, and shall deliver them at the time and place fixed by
the superior officer to whom they are to be delivered and in
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Charge on
postal packets.
[7 of 1945
13 of 1976]

Membership of
the Universal
Postal Union.
good order and condition, fair wear and tear only excepted.
(2) Any person who fails to comply with the
provisions of this section shall be liable to a fine of one
thousand nine hundred and fifty dollars and also any further
sum not exceeding one thousand nine hundred and fifty
dollars, which the Court determines to be the value of the
articles not delivered or, if they have been delivered but are
not in good order and condition, of the damage done to them.
(3) Any justice of the peace may issue a warrant by
virtue whereof any constable may search for and seize any
articles not delivered as required by this section, in like
manner as if they were stolen goods and the warrant was a
warrant to search for stolen goods.
PART II
THE POST OFFICE

Duties of Postage
16. (1) Subject to this Act, there shall be charged by the
Postmaster General for the use of the Post Office on all postal
packets conveyed or delivered for conveyance by post under
the authority of the Post Office, and also on all letters not
excepted from the exclusive privilege of the Post Office and
brought into Guyana, the duties of postage and other sums
from time to time fixed in manner provided by this Act.
(2) Subject to negative resolution of the National
Assembly, the Minister may, by order, fix the rates of the
duties of postage and other sums to be charged under this
Act, and regulate the scale of weights and the circumstances
according to which those rates and sums are respectively to
be charged, and the power of the Post Office, with or without
the consent of the Minister, to remit any of them.
17. (1) The Minister may by order from time to time
adopt the terms, stipulations, conditions, or regulations
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Report of
postal charges
to National
Assembly.
Payment of
postage by
receiver or
sender.
agreed upon by the Universal Postal Union for, or respecting,
or in relation to the transmission of postal matter and declare
that they or any part or modification of them shall be in force
in Guyana.
(2) Any order aforesaid shall have the same force
and effect as if the provisions therein contained were inserted
in this Act.
18. Where, in consequence of the exercise of any
power given under this Act, any additional charge is entailed
on public funds, or where any change is made in the rates of
postage existing at the commencement of this Act, a full
report of each the charge or change shall be made by the
Minister to the National Assembly at the session next after the
time when the charge or change is entailed or made.
19. (l) If the sender of a postal packet fails to prepay
the postage chargeable thereon, that postage shall be paid by
the person to whom the postal packet is addressed (in this Act
styled “the addressee”) on the delivery thereof to him; or, if
the postal packet is refused, or the addressee is dead or
cannot be found, by the sender.
(2) If the addressee, on receiving a postal packet
and paying the postage thereof, desires to reject it and compel
the sender thereof to pay the postage, the Postmaster General,
on the application of the addressee and subject to the
regulations, may charge the postage thereof to the sender,
with the additional postage of returning the packet to him;
and in that case the sender of the postal packet shall pay the
postage of sending and also of returning the packet, and on
the payment thereof the amount paid in respect of postage by
the addressee shall be repaid to him by the Postmaster
General.
(3) Nothing in this section shall release the
addressee from his liability to pay the postage of a packet on
the delivery thereof to him.
LAWS OF GUYANA
22 Cap. 47:01 Post and Telegraph
Recovery of
duties of
postage.
[13 of 1976]
Prima facie
evidence
afforded by
postage mark.

Official mark
evidence of
amount of
postage.
[13 of 1976]
Licence to use
postal franking
machines.
[8 of 1933
13 of 1976
6 of 1997]
20. All duties of postage and other sums charged
under this Act, or under any other written law for the time
being in force relating to the same subject-matter, may be
recovered, with full costs of suit, in any court of competent
jurisdiction, at the suit of the Post Office.
21. In any proceeding for the recovery of postage—
(a) the production of any postal packet in
respect of which any postage is
sought to be recovered, having
thereupon a post office stamp
denoting that the packet has been
refused or rejected, or that the
addressee is dead or cannot be found,
shall be prima facie evidence of the
fact; and
(b) the person from whom any postal
packet in respect of which the postage
is sought to be recovered purports to
have come shall, until the contrary is
proved, be deemed to be the sender
thereof.
22. The official mark of any sum on any postal packet
as due to the Post Office, or to any Commonwealth or foreign
post office, in respect of that packet, shall, in any court of
justice, be received as evidence of the liability of the packet to
the sum so marked, and the sum shall be recoverable in that
court as postage due to the Post Office.
23. (1) The Post Office may grant licences to use postal
franking machines in Guyana on such terms and conditions
(including the payment of fees) as may be set out in the
licence.
(2) The Post Office may cancel a licence granted
under this section if any of the terms and conditions thereof
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Post and Telegraph Cap. 47:01 23
L.R.O. 1/2011

Duties of
stamps.
[13 of 1976]
Privilege of
providing
stamped
envelopes.
[13 of 1976]

Regulations as
to postal
packets.
or if any regulation made under this Act in relation to postal
franking machines is contravened.
(3) Any person using a postal franking machine
without having a licence therefor, shall be liable on summary
conviction to a fine of ninety-seven thousand five hundred
dollars, and in case of a continuing offence to a further
penalty of nineteen thousand five hundred dollars for each
day during which the offence continues.
(4) Licences under this section shall be in such
form and the fees to be paid in respect thereof shall be of such
amount as the Minister may prescribe.
24. All sums payable in pursuance of this Act, or of
any warrants, or rules, or regulations made under this Act,
shall be deemed to be duties of postage.
25. The Post Office may cause to be provided stamped
envelopes, stamped wrappers, letter-sheet envelopes, and
envelopes for registered postal matter and postal cards of all
kinds; and the Post Office shall have the exclusive privilege of
issuing them.
Conditions of Transit of Postal Packets
26. All postal packets shall be posted, transmitted,
conveyed, and delivered, subject to such regulations,
conditions, prohibitions, and restrictions respecting-
(a) the time and mode of posting and
delivery, and of the payments of
duties of postage and other sums
chargeable in pursuance of this Act,
or of any warrant, or rules, or
regulations made under this Act, and
(b) the registration of, and giving receipts
for, and obtaining certificates of
LAWS OF GUYANA
24 Cap. 47:01 Post and Telegraph
Power to
authorise
collection and
delivery of
letters otherwise
than by post.
[13 of 1976
12 of 1990]
Despatch and
delivery of
book packets
and cards.
posting and delivery of, any postal
packet and the sums to be paid in
addition to any other rate of postage
for that registration, receipt, or
certificate; and
(c) stamps, covers, form, dimensions,
maximum weight, enclosures, words,
or marks on newspapers and
printed papers, the use of packets
(other than letters) for making
communications, or otherwise,
as are directed by the regulations.
27. The Post Office may, either generally or in the case
of any particular person, authorise—
(a) letters or other postal packets to be
sent, conveyed and delivered
otherwise than by post; and
(b) the collection, otherwise than by an
officer of the Post Office, of any letters
or postal packets, whether to be so
sent or to be sent by post,

but the authority shall be subject in every case to any
regulations, conditions (including the payment of fees),
prohibitions, and restrictions imposed by the Post Office.
28. Where the despatch or delivery from a post office
of letters would be delayed by the despatch or delivery
therefrom at the same time of book packets, pattern or sample
packets, and post cards, or any of them, those packets or
cards, or any of them, may, subject and according to the
regulations, be detained in the post office until the despatch
or delivery next following that by which they would
ordinarily be despatched or delivered.
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L.R.O. 1/2011
Prohibition of
sending by post
explosive,
inflammable, or
deleterious
substances, or
indecent matter.
[26 of 1949
30 of 1957
6 of 1997]
Cap. 142
1953 Ed.
29. (1) No one shall send or attempt to send any postal
packet which either –
(a) encloses any explosive substance, any
dangerous substance, any filth, any
noxious or deleterious substance, any
sharp instrument not properly
protected, any living creature which is
either noxious or likely to injure either
other postal packets in course of
conveyance or an officer of the Post
Office, or any article or thing
whatsoever likely to injure either
other postal packets in course of
conveyance or an officer of the Post
Office; or
(b) encloses any indecent or obscene
print, painting, photograph,
lithograph, engraving, book or card,
or any indecent or obscene article,
whether similar to the above or not; or
(c) has thereon, or on the cover thereof,
any words, marks, or designs of an
indecent, obscene, or grossly offensive
character; or
(d) encloses any Indian hemp (as defined
in the Dangerous Drugs Act) or any
opium, whether “medicinal opium,”
“prepared opium” or “raw opium”
(all as defined in the Dangerous
Drugs Act), or any substance or drug
whatever certified by the Government
Analyst of Guyana to be purely a
narcotic:
Provided that –
LAWS OF GUYANA
26 Cap. 47:01 Post and Telegraph

Printed matter
sent without
cover or in
open cover.
[13 of 1976]

Dealing with
postal packet
(i) the Minister may authorise the
insertion in a postal packet of
any substance or narcotic
aforesaid according to any
convention or agreement of the
Universal Postal Union;
(ii) nothing in this subsection shall
apply to the posting or
transmission of radio-active
substances in accordance with
the regulations; and the receipt,
acceptance, transmission or
delivery of radio-active
substances by the postal
department shall be deemed a
special service for the purpose
of section (99m).
(2) Everyone who contravenes this section shall be
liable on summary conviction to a fine of nine thousand seven
hundred and fifty dollars and on conviction on indictment to
imprisonment for twelve months.
(3) The detention in the post office of any postal
packet on the ground of its being in contravention of this
section shall not exempt the sender thereof from any
proceedings which might have been taken if it had been
delivered in due course of post.
30. The Postmaster General or any other officer of the
Post Office authorised by him may examine any printed
paper or any packet sent by post without a cover, or in a
cover open at the sides, in order to discover whether it is
contrary in any respect to the conditions required by this Act
to be observed.
31. If any postal packet contains or bears a fictitious
stamp as defined in section 83, or purports to be prepaid with
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Post and Telegraph Cap. 47:01 27
L.R.O. 1/2011
not sent in
conformity
with Act.
[7 of 1945]
Dealing with
postal packet
containing
contraband
goods.

Liability for
loss of postal
packet.
[13 of 1976]
Decision as to
postal packet.
any postage stamp previously used to prepay any other
postal packet, or is posted or sent by post in contravention of
this Act, the transmission thereof may be refused, and the
packet may, if necessary, be detained and opened in the post
office, and shall either be returned to the sender thereof or
forwarded to its destination, in either case charged with the
additional postage at a rate not exceeding the letter rate of
postage, or without any additional charge, provided by an
order of the Minister under this Act, or if that provision is not
made, directed by the Postmaster General with the approval
of the Minister.
32. The Postmaster General and any officer of the Post
Office may detain any postal packet suspected to contain any
contraband goods and transmit the packet to the Comptroller
of Customs, and the Comptroller, in the presence of the
person to whom the packet is addressed, or if, after notice in
writing from the Comptroller requiring his attendance left at
or transmitted by post to the address on the packet, he fails to
attend, then in his absence, may open and examine the
packet, and, if the Comptroller finds any contraband goods,
may detain the packet and its contents for the purpose of
prosecution, and, if the Comptroller finds no contraband
goods, shall either deliver the packet to the person to whom it
is addressed on his paying the postage, if any, chargeable
thereon, or, if he is absent, shall transmit the packet to him by
post.
33. The registration of or giving a receipt for a postal
packet shall not render the Minister, or the Post Office or any
officer of the Post Office in any manner liable for the loss of
the packet or the contents thereof.
34. If any question arises whether any postal packet is
a letter, post card, newspaper, supplement, book packet,
circular, or other description of postal packet within the
meaning of this Act, the decision thereon shall be made by the
Postmaster General, but the Minister may, if he thinks fit, on
the application of any person interested, reverse or modify
LAWS OF GUYANA
28 Cap. 47:01 Post and Telegraph
Provisions
relating to
money orders
and postal
orders.
[13 of 1976]

the decision and order accordingly.
Money Orders
35. (1) The Minister may provide for the remission of
small sums of money through the post office by means of
money orders, and may demand and receive, for the use of
the Post Office, in respect of those money order the rates of
commission for the time being fixed by an order, and all
commissions so received shall be deemed to be part of the
Post Office revenue.
(2) No interest shall be payable in respect of any
money order.

(3) If the regulations so provide, the Postmaster
General may authorise any public officer to issue money
orders, and any person so authorised shall, for the purpose of
the issue and payment of money orders, be deemed to be an
officer of the Post Office within the meaning of this Act.
(4) Subject to the regulations, the Post Office may
pay the amount of any money order to the person to whom it
is granted, or his executors or administrators, whether it
remains in the possession of that person or not, and, on the
repayment, all liability on the part of the Minister, or of the
Post Office in respect of the money order shall, as against the
payee of the money order and the holder thereof, and every
other person whomsoever, absolutely cease.
(5) No action or other legal proceedings shall be
instituted against the Minister, or the Post Office or any
officer of the Post Office, or anyone whomsoever, in respect of
any compliance with the regulations relating to money orders
or otherwise in relation thereto, or in respect of the payment
of any money order being refused or delayed by or on
account of any accidental neglect, omission, or mistake by or
on the part of any officer of the Post Office, or for any other
cause whatsoever, without fraud or wilful misbehaviour on
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Post and Telegraph Cap. 47:01 29
Duty of master
of outward-
bound vessel
respecting
mails.
[6 of 1997]
Duty of master
of inward
bound vessel
respecting
letters.
[33 of 1954
13 of 1976
6 of 1997]
the part of that officer.
(6) In this section, the expression “money orders”
includes postal orders.
Ship Letters
36. Every master of a vessel outward bound, or
passing coastwise or otherwise between ports or places
within Guyana, shall receive on board his vessel every mail
bag tendered to him by an officer of the Post Office for
conveyance, and, having received the bag, shall deliver it, on
arriving at the port or place of his destination, without delay,
and, if he fails to comply with this section, he shall be liable to
a fine of ninety-seven thousand five hundred dollars.
37. (1) Every master of a vessel inward bound and
every pilot or other person in charge of an aircraft inward
bound shall collect all letters on board his vessel or aircraft,
not being letters excepted from the privilege of the Post Office
and not being letters by this Act defined as shipowners’
letters, and enclose them in some bag or other covering,
sealed with his seal, and addressed to the Postmaster General,
and without delay deliver them to the proper officer of the
Post Office demanding them, or, if no demand is made by
that officer, then at the post office with which he can first
communicate, or, if the vessel or aircraft is liable to the
performance of quarantine, to the person appointed to
superintend the quarantine, who, after taking the proper
precautions, shall deliver them at the post office.
(2) The master of the vessel or aircraft shall not
break bulk or make entry in any port until he has complied
with the provisions of subsection (l).
(3) Any master of a vessel or any pilot or other
person in charge of an aircraft, who acts in contravention of or
fails to comply with this section, shall, if he has wilfully
delayed the delivery of letters as required by this section, be
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LAWS OF GUYANA
30 Cap. 47:01 Post and Telegraph
Opening mail
bag by master
of vessel, or
letters by
carrier.
[33 of 1954
6 of 1997]
Duty of officer
of customs as to
delivery of
letters by
master of
liable to a fine of nineteen thousand five hundred dollars,
and, in any other case, to a fine of thirty-nine thousand
dollars.
(4) If any person appointed to superintend the
quarantine acts in contravention of or fails to comply with
this section, he shall be liable to a fine of thirty-nine thousand
dollars.
(5) For the purposes of this section, the harbour
master of any port where the vessel arrives shall be deemed
to be an officer of the Post Office, and if any letters are
delivered to a harbour master under this section he shall
immediately transmit the same to the nearest post office.
38. (1) Any master of a vessel or any pilot or other
person in charge of an aircraft who –
(a) opens a sealed mail bag with which
he is entrusted for conveyance; or
(b) takes out of a mail bag with which he
is entrusted for conveyance any postal
packet or other thing,
shall on conviction thereof be liable to a fine of ninety-seven
thousand five hundred dollars.
(2) Any person to whom letters have been
entrusted by the master of a vessel or the pilot or other person
in charge of an aircraft to bring on shore who breaks the seal,
or in any manner wilfully opens them, shall be liable to a fine
of nineteen thousand five hundred dollars.
39. (1) An officer of customs shall not permit any
inward-bound vessel or aircraft to break bulk or to make
entry until the letters on board thereof have been delivered to
an officer of the Post Office or at a post office as required by
this Act, and shall search the vessel or aircraft for letters
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LAWS OF GUYANA
Post and Telegraph Cap. 47:01 31
L.R.O. 1/2011
vessel.
[33 of 1954
6 of 1997]
Shipowners’
letters.
[33 of 1954]
which may be on board the vessel or aircraft contrary to this
Act, and may seize them and forward them to the nearest
post office.
(2) Any officer of customs, who acts in
contravention of or fails to comply with this section, shall be
liable to a fine of thirty-nine thousand dollars.
40. (1) The following letters (in this Act referred to as
“shipowners’ letters”), that is to say, letters of the owners,
charterers, or consignees of vessels or aircraft inward bound,
and of the owners, consignees, or shippers of goods on board
of those vessels or aircraft, when not exceeding the weights
and when complying with the conditions hereinafter
mentioned, shall-
(a) if required to be delivered at the port
of the vessel’s or aircraft’s arrival, be
delivered to the owners, charterers,
consignees, or shippers by the master
of the vessel or the pilot or other
person in charge of the aircraft before
he delivers the other letters to the post
office, and shall be so delivered free of
inland postage; and
(b) if delivered elsewhere in Guyana,
shall be delivered on payment of
inland postage only:
Provided that –
(i) the letters brought by any one
vessel or aircraft to any one of
those persons shall not
collectively exceed six ounces
in weight;
(ii) the owner, charterer, or
consignee shall be so described
LAWS OF GUYANA
32 Cap. 47:01 Post and Telegraph
Gratuities to
masters of
vessels.
[33 of 1954
13 of 1976]
Retention of
ship letters
after delivery of
letters to post
office.
[33 of 1954
13 of 1976
6 of 1997]
on the address and
superscription; and
(iii) in the case of owners,
consignees, or shippers of
goods, it shall also appear by
the ship’s or aircraft’s manifest
that they have goods on board
the vessel or aircraft.
(2) If any shipowners’ letters are found by an
officer of customs to be in excess of the weights hereinbefore
limited by this section, that officer shall seize so many of the
letters as will reduce the remainder within those weights, and
shall forward the letters to the nearest post office.
41. The Post Office may allow to masters of vessels or
persons in charge of aircraft in respect of postal packets or
any description thereof conveyed by them on behalf of the
Post Office, and also to pilots, crew, and others in respect of
postal packets or any description thereof brought by them to
any post office from any vessels or aircraft, the gratuities
under the regulations and restrictions from time to time
determined.
42. If any person being either the master of a vessel
inward bound or the pilot or other person in charge of an
aircraft inward bound or one of the officers or crew of such a
vessel or aircraft, or a passenger thereof, knowingly has in his
baggage or in his possession or custody any letter not
excepted from the privilege of the Post Office after the master
of the vessel or the pilot or other person in charge of the
aircraft has sent any part of the letters on board his vessel or
aircraft to the post office, he shall for every such letter be
liable on summary conviction to a fine of one thousand six
hundred and twenty-five dollars, and if he detains the letter
after demand is made for it, either by an officer of customs or
by an officer of the Post Office authorised by the Postmaster
General to demand the letters on board the vessel or aircraft,
he shall for every letter be liable on summary conviction to a
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Post and Telegraph Cap. 47:01 33
L.R.O. 1/2011
Power to
construct and
maintain
telegraph.
[8 of 1966B]
User of public
ways.

General
description of
works
authorised.
fine of three thousand two hundred and fifty dollars.
PART III
THE GOVERNMENT TELEGRAPH
General Powers
43. For the purpose of enabling the Corporation to
establish and maintain telegraphic communication between
the different parts of Guyana, the Corporation may, subject to
the restrictions and provisions hereinafter contained, lay,
construct, land, maintain, and work telegraphs, under, in,
upon, over, along, or across, any of the waters, shores, or
lands of Guyana, and upon, over, along, or across any
building in Guyana, and cut down, remove, and convert to its
own use any tree growing or being in any part of any lands
off either side of the telegraph and within a distance not
exceeding fifty feet.
44. Subject to the restrictions and provisions of this
Act, the Corporation shall be allowed the gratuitous use of the
streets, public roads, rivers, and waters of Guyana required to
be used by the Corporation for the purposes of the
Government telegraph.
45. Subject to the restrictions and provisions of this
Act, the Corporation may execute works as follows, that is,
the Corporation may –
(a) place and maintain a telegraph under
any street or public road and alter or
remove it;
(b) place and maintain a telegraph over,
along, or across any street or public
road, and place and maintain posts in
or under any street or public road,
and alter or remove them;
LAWS OF GUYANA
34 Cap. 47:01 Post and Telegraph

Restrictions on
exercise of
powers relating
to execution of
works.
(c) for the purposes aforesaid, open or
break up any street or public road and
alter the position thereunder of any
pipe (not being a main) for the supply
of water or gas; and
(d) place and maintain a telegraph and
posts under, in, upon, over, along, or
across any land or building, or any
railway or canal, or any estuary or
branch of the sea, or the shore or bed
of any tidal water, and alter or
remove them:
Provided that the Corporation shall not be deemed to
acquire any right other than that of the user only in the soil of
any street or public road, under, in, upon, over, along, or
across which it places any work.
Restrictions on Exercise of Powers
46. In the exercise of the aforesaid powers, the
Corporation shall also be subject to the following restrictions:
(a) the Corporation shall cause as little
detriment or inconvenience as
circumstances admit to the person to
or by whom any pipe for the supply
of water or gas belongs or is used;
(b) before the Corporation alters the
position of that pipe, the Corporation
shall give to the person to whom the
pipe belongs notice of its intention to
do so, specifying the time at which the
Corporation will begin to do so, the
notice to be given twenty- four hours
at least before the commencement of
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Post and Telegraph Cap. 47:01 35
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Marking of
tube or pipe.

Prohibition of
impeding of
traffic.
Protection of
traffic.
the work for effecting the alteration;
and
(c) the Corporation shall not execute the
work except under the
superintendence of the person to
whom the pipe belongs, unless that
person refuses or neglects to give the
superintendence at the time specified
in the notice for the commencement of
the work or discontinues it during the
work; and the Corporation shall
execute the work to the reasonable
satisfaction of that person.
47. Every underground tube or pipe of the
Government telegraph shall be so marked as to distinguish it
from tubes or pipes of all other persons.
48. When the Corporation places a telegraph along,
across, or over any street or public road, it shall not place the
telegraph so low as to stop, hinder, or interfere with, any right
of passage along, across or over that street or road.
49. (a) The Corporation shall not stop or
impede the traffic in any street or
public road further than is necessary
for the proper execution of the
requisite works.
(b) The Corporation shall not close
against traffic more than one-third in
width of any street or public road, or
of any way opening into any street or
public road, at one time.
(c) In case two-thirds of the street or road
is not wide enough to allow two
carriages to pass each other, the
LAWS OF GUYANA
36 Cap. 47:01 Post and Telegraph

Restrictions as
to opening up
of streets and
roads.

Obligation to
restore street or
road opened.
Corporation shall not occupy with its
works at one time more than fifty
yards in length of the one-third
thereof, except with the consent of the
person having control thereof.
50. When the Corporation proceeds to open or break
up a street or public road, the following provisions shall have
effect:
(a) the Corporation shall give notice to
the person having the control of the
street or public road, specifying the
time at which the work will be begun;
the notice to be given, in the case of an
underground work, ten days at least,
and in the case of an above-ground
work, five days at least, before the
commencement of the work; except in
case of emergency, in which case a
notice of the work proposed shall be
given as soon as may be after the
commencement thereof; and
(b) the Corporation shall not (except in
case of emergency) open or break up
any street or public road except under
the superintendence of the person to
whom notice is by this section
required to be given, unless that
person refuses or neglects to give the
superintendence at the time specified
in the notice for the work or
discontinues it during the work.
51. After the Corporation has opened or broken up a
street or public road, it shall be under the following further
obligations in respect thereof:
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Protection of
rights of
private
property in
respect of
telegraph work.
(a) the Corporation with all convenient
speed, complete the work on account
of which the road or street was
opened or broken up, and fill in the
ground and make good the surface,
and generally restore it to as good a
condition as that in which it was
before being opened or broken up,
and carry away all rubbish occasioned
thereby; and
(b) the Corporation shall, in the
meantime, cause the place where it is
opened or broken up to be fenced and
watched and to be properly lighted at
night.
52. The Corporation shall not place any work by the
side of any land or building, so as to stop, hinder, or interfere
with ingress or egress for any purpose thereto or therefrom,
and shall execute all works under, in, upon, over, along, or
across any building or land, other than streets or public roads,
subject to the following provisions:
(a) twenty-one days at least before the
Corporation proceeds to place a
telegraph, the Corporation shall
publish in the Gazette a notice
describing the intended course
thereof;
(b) where the Corporation places a
telegraph directly over any dwelling-
house the Corporation shall not place
it at a less height above the roof
thereof than six feet, if the owner,
lessee, or occupier thereof objects to
its placing it at a less height; and,

LAWS OF GUYANA
38 Cap. 47:01 Post and Telegraph

Notice of
intended
telegraph.
(c) if at any time the owner, lessee, or
occupier of any building or land
adjoining a building directly over
which building or land the
Corporation places a telegraph,
desires to raise the building to a
greater height, or to extend it over
that land, the Corporation shall
increase the height, or otherwise alter
the position, of the telegraph so that it
may not interfere with the raising or
extension of the building, within
fourteen days after receiving from the
owner, lessee, or occupier a notice of
his intention to raise or extend the
building; or, in case of difference
between the Corporation and the
owner, lessee, or occupier as to his
intention, then within fourteen days
after receiving a certificate, signed by
a magistrate, certifying that the
magistrate is satisfied of the intention
of the owner, lessee, or occupier to
raise or extend the building.
53. (1) Before the Corporation proceeds to place a
telegraph over, along, or across any street or public road, or to
place posts in or upon any street or public road, the
Corporation shall publish a notice describing the course of the
telegraph-
(a) by affixing the notice on some
conspicuous places by the side of the
part of the street or road affected, at
distances of not more than one mile
apart; and

(b) by inserting the notice once at least in
each of two successive weeks in the
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L.R.O. 1/2011
Procedure on
receipt of
notice of
objection to
work.
Gazette and in one or more
newspapers of Guyana;
and the Corporation shall not so place the telegraph or post
until the expiration of twenty-one days from the last
publication of the notice.
(2) At any time during those twenty-one days, the
owner, lessee, or occupier of any land or building adjoining
either side of the street or road may give to the Corporation
notice of his objection to the intended work as prejudicially
affecting that land or building.
(3) Before the Corporation proceeds to cut down or
remove any tree growing or being on any land on either side
of the telegraph, the Corporation shall, twenty-one days at
least before so doing, give notice of its intention to do so to
the owner, lessee, or occupier of the land, and shall affix a
copy of the notice in a conspicuous place near the tree; and at
any time during the twenty-one days the owner, lessee, or
occupier may give notice to the Corporation of his objection
to the tree being cut down or removed.
(4) Until the objection is settled or determined in
manner hereinafter provided, the Corporation shall not
execute that part of the intended work or cut down or remove
the tree, to which the objection relates.
54. (1) As soon as may be after the receipt of any
notice of objection aforesaid, the Corporation (unless the
difference between him and the person objecting is settled)
shall report the objection in writing to the Minister.
(2) On considering that report and the statement of
any person objecting, the Minister may-
(a) allow the objection, either wholly or
in part; or

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40 Cap. 47:01 Post and Telegraph

Removal or
alteration of
work affecting
land or
building.
(b) authorise the Corporation to proceed
with the work, or to cut down or
remove the tree, paying to the owner,
lessee, or occupier objecting a
compensation (the amount thereof to
be determined in case of difference by
the Minister) for any damage done to
him; or
(c) authorise the Corporation so to
proceed, subject to any conditions as
to the time or mode of execution of
any work, or as to the removal or
alteration in any event of any work, or
as to any other thing connected with
or relative to any work, the Minister
thinks fit; or
(d) authorise the Corporation so to
proceed, subject to any modification
of any intended work the Minister
prescribes; but so that in that case
notice and opportunity of objecting
and being heard as the Minister
directs shall be given to any owner,
lessee, or occupier whom the
modification affects.
(3) The determination of the Minister on the matter
of the objection shall be final and conclusive.
(4) The Minister may allow to any owner, lessee, or
occupier so objecting any costs seeming just.
55. (1) Where the Corporation has constructed any
work under, in, upon, over, along, or across any land or
building, and any owner, lessee, or occupier of that land or
building, or other person having any interest therein, desires
to build upon or enclose that land, or in any manner to
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improve or alter it, or to use it in some manner in which it
was not actually used at the time of the construction of the
work, and with which the continuance of the work will
interfere, then the following provisions shall have effect:
(a) the owner, lessee, occupier, or other
person interested may give to the
Corporation a notice specifying the
nature of the intended building,
enclosure, improvement, alteration, or
other use of the land or building,
including ingress or egress thereto or
therefrom, and requiring the
Corporation to remove or alter the
work so that it may not interfere
therewith; and
(b) within fourteen days after the receipt
of that notice, or, in case of difference
between the Corporation and the
person giving the notice as to his
intention, then within fourteen days
after the receipt of a certificate, signed
by a magistrate, certifying that he is
satisfied of the intention of the person
to make the building, enclosure,
improvement, alteration, or other use
of the land or building, and that the
continuance of the work will interfere
therewith, the granting of that
certificate being deemed to be a
matter referred to the determination
of the magistrate so certifying, the
Corporation shall remove or alter the
work, so that it shall not interfere with
the intended building, enclosure,
improvement, alteration, or other use
of the land or building.

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42 Cap. 47:01 Post and Telegraph

Use of lights
and signals.

Power to refer
to arbitrator.

Provision as to
notices and
consents.
(2) Nothing in this section shall empower anyone
to obtain the removal or alteration of any work contrary to the
terms of any grant or consent in writing made or given by
him or by anyone through whom he takes his estate or
interest.
Miscellaneous Matters
56. The Corporation may, in or about the construction,
maintenance, or repair, of any work under, in, upon, over,
along, or across, any estuary or branch of the sea or the shore
or bed of any tidal water within the limits of Guyana, use on
board ship or elsewhere any light or signal allowed by the
regulations.
57. If, in any case where any matter is by this Act
authorised or directed to be determined by the Minister, it
appears to him to be expedient, for convenience of local
investigation or for any other reason, that the matter should
be determined by an arbitrator, he may, notwithstanding
anything contained in this Act, and whether he has entered
on the investigation or not, refer the matter to some
competent and impartial person as arbitrator; and, with
respect to the matter so referred, the arbitrator shall have the
like authority and jurisdiction as the Minister has under this
Act, and his determination shall have the same effect as a
determination of the Minister under this Act.
58. The following provisions shall apply to notices
and consents under this Act:
(a) every notice or consent shall be in
writing;
(b) any notice to or by the Corporation, or
anybody or person having the control
of a street or public road or of the
sewerage or drainage thereunder,
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Compensation
and penalty for
injury to
telegraph lines
and for
interruption to
telegraphic
communication
[6 of 1997]
may be given to or by the
Corporation, or the clerk, agent,
secretary, or other like officer, if any,
of the Corporation or of that body or
person, as the case may be; and
(c) any consent, where consent is
required, may be given on any
pecuniary or other terms or
conditions (being in themselves
lawful) or subject to any stipulations
as to the time or mode of execution of
any work, or as to the removal or
alteration in any event of any work, or
as to any other thing connected with
or relative to any work, the body or
person giving the consent thinks fit.
59. (1) Where any undertakers, body, or person, by
themselves or their agents, destroy or injure, or by himself or
his agents, destroys or injures, any telegraph line of the
Corporation, the undertakers, body, or person shall not only
be liable to pay to the Corporation the expenses (if any) it
incurs in making good the destruction or injury, but also, if
the telegraphic communication is carelessly or wilfully
interrupted, shall be liable to a fine of nine thousand seven
hundred and fifty dollars per diem for every day during which
the interruption continues.
(2) Where the undertakers, body, or person, liable
to pay the daily penalty aforesaid to the Corporation, are or is
not authorised to execute the works required for remedying
the interruption, the interruption shall be deemed to continue
either for the time during which it actually continues or for
any less time which, in the opinion of the Court having
cognizance of the case, would have been sufficient for
remedying the interruption by the Corporation.
(3) The Corporation may, instead of taking
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44 Cap. 47:01 Post and Telegraph
Obstructing
Corporation in
telegraph line
work.
[6 of 1997]

Meaning of
“telegraph” in
this section.
proceedings for the recovery of the daily penalty aforesaid,
proceed for the recovery of a fine of thirty-nine thousand
dollars, to which the undertakers, body, or person shall be
liable on conviction.
(4) An act done to a telegraph line in the course of
work undertaken by any undertakers, body, or person, in the
legal exercise of a right, shall not be deemed to be wilful
destruction of or injury to the telegraph line, if due notice of
the intended exercise of the right has been given to the
Corporation, that is to say, the notice required to be given in
pursuance of any Act or agreement, or, where there is no Act
or agreement requiring the notice, fourteen clear days’ notice.
(5) This section shall be deemed to be in addition
to, and not in derogation of, any other power or means which
the Corporation has of recovering damages in respect of any
destruction or injury in this section mentioned under any
other Act, or at common law, or otherwise, so that he shall not
proceed under this Act and under any other Act in respect of
the same destruction or injury.
60. Where any undertakers, body, or person, or their
or his agents, obstruct or obstructs the Corporation or his
agents in placing, maintaining, altering, examining, or
repairing any telegraph line in pursuance of this Act or of any
consent given in pursuance hereof, or in supervising or
directing any alteration in any telegraph line made by any
undertakers, body, or person, or their or his agents, in
pursuance of this Act, the undertakers, body, or person, and
agents respectively shall be liable to a fine of thirty-nine
thousand dollars.
Government Telegraph Monopoly
61. (1) For the purposes of this section –
“telegraph” means an electric, galvanic, or magnetic
telegraph, and includes appliances and apparatus for
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Minister to
have monopoly
in maintaining
telegraphs.
Power to
require the
production of
telegrams.
[11 of 1939
16 of 1939
6 of 1997]
transmitting or making telegraphic, telephonic, or other
communication by means of electricity, galvanism or
magnetism, whether the communication be transmitted
by means of wires or cables, or without wires or cables.
(2) The Minister shall have the exclusive privilege
of establishing, maintaining and working telegraphs between
Guyana and places outside of Guyana:
Provided that the Minister may grant a licence on the
conditions and in consideration of the payments he thinks fit,
to any person, company or body corporate, to establish,
maintain, or work a telegraph between Guyana and any place
or places outside Guyana.
62. (1) Notwithstanding the conditions contained in
any licence granted by the Minister under section 61(2) where
it appears to the Minister that such a course is expedient in
the public interest, he may, by warrant under his hand,
require any person who owns or controls any telegraphic
cable or wire, or any apparatus for wireless telegraphy, used
for the sending or receipt of telegrams to or from any place
out of Guyana to produce to him, or to any person named in
the warrant, the originals and transcripts, either of all
telegrams, or of telegrams of any specified class or
description, or of telegrams sent from or addressed to any
specified person or place, sent or received to or from any
place out of Guyana by means of any such cable, wire, or
apparatus, and all other papers relating to any such telegram
as aforesaid.
(2) Any person who, on being required to produce
any such original or transcript or paper as aforesaid, refuses
or neglects to do so shall, for each offence, be liable on
summary conviction to a fine of forty- eight thousand seven
hundred and fifty dollars and to imprisonment for three
months.

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46 Cap. 47:01 Post and Telegraph

Licence for
wireless
telegraphy.
[6 of 1935
5 of 1939
48 of 1950
13 of 1976
8 of 1985
6 of 1997]
Unauthorised
use.
Wireless Telegraphy
63. (1) No person shall establish any wireless
telegraph station, or install or work any apparatus for
wireless telegraphy in any place, or on board any
Commonwealth ship registered in Guyana, except under and
in accordance with a licence granted in that behalf by the
Minister:
Provided that –
(a) licences for broadcast receiving sets
may be granted by the Minister or any
person authorised by him in writing
on payment of the prescribed fee and
shall be subject to any regulations
made under this section;
(b) licences to install, use or work
amateur wireless stations may be
granted by the Minister on payment
of the prescribed fee and shall be
subject to any regulations made under
this section.

(2) All licences, other than licences for broadcast
receiving sets, shall be in such form and for such period as the
Minister may determine and shall contain the terms,
conditions and restrictions on and subject to which the licence
is granted, and any such licence may include two or more
stations, places or ships.
(3) Any person who establishes a wireless
telegraph station without a licence in that behalf, or installs or
works any apparatus for wireless telegraphy without a licence
in that behalf, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour and be liable
on summary conviction to a fine of nine thousand seven
hundred and fifty dollars, and on conviction on indictment to
a fine of ninety-seven thousand five hundred dollars, or to
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Search warrant.

Regulations.

Use of
merchant ship’s
apparatus.
imprisonment for twelve months, and in either case he shall
be liable to forfeit any apparatus for wireless telegraphy
installed or worked without a licence.
(4) A justice of the peace satisfied by information
on oath that there is reasonable ground for supposing that a
wireless telegraph station has been established without a
licence in that behalf, or that any apparatus for wireless
telegraphy has been installed or worked in any place, or on
board any merchant ship, within his jurisdiction without a
licence in that behalf or contrary to the provisions of the
regulations made under subsections (5) and (6), may grant a
search warrant to any police officer or any officer appointed
in that behalf by the Minister, the General Manager of the
Corporation, or the Postmaster General, and named in the
warrant, and a warrant so granted shall authorise the officer
named therein to enter and inspect the station, place or ship
and to seize any apparatus appearing to him to be used or
intended to be used for wireless telegraphy therein.
(5) The Minister may by regulations prescribe –
(a) the form and manner in which
applications for licences under this
section shall be made;
(b) the fees payable on the grant of any
licence;
(c) the terms and conditions under which
a licence may be granted;
(d) generally for carrying into effect the
provisions of this section.
(6) No person shall work any apparatus for
wireless telegraphy installed on any merchant ship (whether
Commonwealth or foreign) whilst that ship is in Guyana or
the territorial waters thereof, otherwise than in accordance
LAWS OF GUYANA
48 Cap. 47:01 Post and Telegraph

with regulations made in that behalf by the Minister and the
Minister may by those regulations impose penalties
recoverable summarily for the breach thereof, not exceeding
nine thousand seven hundred and fifty dollars for each
offence, and may provide for the forfeiture, on breach, of any
apparatus for wireless telegraphy installed or worked on the
ship.
(7) Nothing in this section shall prevent any person
from making or using electrical apparatus for actuating
machinery or for any purpose other than the transmission of
messages.
(8) The provisions of this section shall apply to any
wireless or cable television transmitter or station used or
intended to be used for the transmission or reception or both
of visual images by means of television as they apply to a
wireless telegraphy station used for wireless telegraphy other
than television.
(9) For removing doubts as to the meanings of the
expressions “broadcast receiving sets”, “wireless telegraphy”
and “wireless or cable television transmitter or station” in this
section, it is hereby declared that these expressions where
used in this section in relation to visual images shall have the
following meanings—
“broadcast receiving sets” includes television receiving sets,
whether used in conjunction with video recorders or not;
“wireless telegraphy” includes television;
“wireless or cable television transmitter or station” includes
any apparatus, appliance or structure, used for the
transmission or reception or both of electro-magnetic
radiation or radio frequencies used for television
broadcasting, but does not include a television receiver
used only for domestic purposes.
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Meaning of
“ship” in this
section.
[6 of 1997]
Wireless
telegraphy
requirements.

c. 49:01

64. (1) In this section the expression “ship” includes
every description of vessel used in navigation not propelled
by oars.

(2) Every sea-going Commonwealth ship
registered in Guyana, being a passenger steamer or a ship of
sixteen hundred tons gross tonnage or upwards, shall be
provided with a wireless telegraph installation, and shall
maintain a wireless telegraph service (at least sufficient to
comply with the regulations made for the purpose under this
section) and be provided with one or more certified operators
and watchers at least, in accordance with those regulations:
Provided that the Minister may exempt from the
obligations imposed by this section any ships or classes of
ships if he is of opinion that, having regard to the nature of
the voyages on which the ships are engaged, or other
circumstances of the case, the provision of a wireless
telegraph apparatus is unnecessary or unreasonable.
(3) The Minister shall make regulations prescribing
the nature of the wireless telegraph installation to be
provided, of the services to be maintained, and the number,
grade, and qualifications of operators and watchers to be
carried:
Provided that no ship shall be required to carry more
than one operator unless more than one operator would have
been required under the Guyana Shipping Act.
(4) If this section is not obeyed in the case of any
ship, the master or owner of the ship shall be liable in respect
of each offence to a fine of five hundred and twenty thousand
dollars, and the offence may be prosecuted summarily, but if
it is prosecuted summarily the fine shall not exceed ninety-
seven thousand five hundred dollars.
(5) The Minister may designate an officer to be a
LAWS OF GUYANA
50 Cap. 47:01 Post and Telegraph
Inspection of
ships.

Nature of
obligations.

c. 49:01

Application to
ships not
registered in
the United
Kingdom.
wireless telegraphy inspector (in this section described as an
inspector) for the purpose of inspecting ships in order to
ascertain whether the requirements of this section relating to
wireless telegraphy are observed on board any ship.
(6) An inspector may inspect any ship for the
purpose of seeing that she is properly provided with a
wireless telegraph installation and certified operators and
watchers in conformity with this section, and for the purpose
of that inspection shall have all the powers of a Board of
Trade inspector under the applied Acts entitled the Merchant
Shipping Acts, 1894 to 1916.
(7) If the inspector finds that the ship is not so
provided, he shall give to the master or owner notice in
writing pointing out the deficiency and what in his opinion is
requisite to remedy it.
(8) Every notice so given shall be communicated in
the manner directed by the Minister to the chief officer of
customs of any port at which the ship seeks to obtain a
clearance or transire, and the ship shall be detained until a
certificate under the hand of an inspector is produced to the
effect that the ship is properly provided with wireless
telegraph installation and certified operators and watchers in
conformity with this section.
(9) The obligations imposed by this section shall be
in addition to, and not in substitution for, the obligations as to
wireless telegraphy imposed by the preceding section or
regulations made thereunder, or by the Guyana Shipping Act.
(10) The foregoing provisions of this section as
from a date three months after the coming into operation of
the obligations imposed by this section on Commonwealth
ships registered in Guyana shall apply to ships other than
Commonwealth ships so registered while they are within any
port in Guyana in like manner as they apply to
Commonwealth ships so registered.
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Provisions of
section 63 to
apply to
aircraft.
[6 of 1935
4 of 1972
6 of 1997]
Provisions of
section 63 to
apply to visual
and sound
signalling
stations.

Explanation of
the expression
“transmission”
in section 63
(7).

Power of
President in
case of
emergency to
take control of
messages, and
65. (1) Any provisions of section 63 that are applicable
to ships shall, with the necessary modifications, apply also to
aircraft, and in particular with the modification that, in
reference to ships in Guyana or its territorial waters, there
shall be substituted a reference to aircraft in or over Guyana
or its territorial waters.

(2) The provisions of section 63 shall apply to any
visual or sound signalling station used or intended to be used
for the purpose of communication with ships at sea as they
apply to wireless telegraphy stations.
(3) For the purposes of the last preceding
subsection “visual or sound signalling station” includes any
permanent or fixed apparatus for the purpose of visual or
sound signalling:
Provided that nothing in this section shall apply to visual
or sound signalling stations or apparatus on board ships or in
aircraft, or to signalling stations, lighthouses, and lightships
under the control of the Transport and Harbours Department.
(4) For removing doubts as to the meaning of the
expression “transmission” in section 63(7) it is hereby
declared that that expression where used in that section in
relation to messages includes, and shall be deemed always to
have included, the reception as well as the sending of
messages:
Provided that nothing in this section shall render any
person liable in respect of any act or omission prior to the 1st
June, 1927, to any penalty to which he would not but for this
section have been liable.
(5) If at any time in the opinion of the President an
emergency has arisen wherein it is expedient for the public
service that Government should have control over the
transmission and reception of messages by wireless
telegraphy or visual or sound signalling, and notice to that
LAWS OF GUYANA
52 Cap. 47:01 Post and Telegraph
of Minister to
make rules in
connection
therewith.
Stealing main
bag, postal
packet or the
contents, or
stopping mail.

effect is published in the Gazette, the Minister may, during the
continuance of the emergency, make such rules as appear
necessary with respect to the possession, sale, purchase,
construction, and use of apparatus for wireless telegraphy or
visual or sound signalling or component parts of that
apparatus, and to impose penalties and forfeitures in respect
of any breach of the rules, and make any further provision
appearing necessary for the enforcement of the rules:
Provided that rules made under this subsection shall not
provide for the imposition of a term of imprisonment
exceeding six months or a fine exceeding ninety-seven
thousand five hundred dollars, or, in the case of a continuing
offence, nine thousand seven hundred and fifty dollars for
each day during which the offence continues.
PART IV
MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
Post Office Offences
66. Everyone who –
(a) steals a mail bag; or
(b) steals a postal packet from a mail bag,
or from a post office, or from an
officer of the Post Office, or from a
mail; or
(c) steals out of a postal packet any
contents thereof; or
(d) stops a mail or an officer of the Post
Office with intent to rob,
shall be guilty of felony and shall be liable to imprisonment
for fourteen years.
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Receiving
stolen mail bag,
postal packet or
its contents.

Fraudulent
retention of
mail bag, or
postal packet.
[6 of 1997]

Criminally
diverting postal
packet from
addressee.
[O. 80/1980
6 of 1997]

c. 1:01

Embezzlement
or destruction
by officer of
67. Everyone who receives any mail bag or postal
packet, or any contents of a postal packet, the stealing,
embezzling, or secreting whereof amounts to a felony under
this Act, knowing it or them to have been feloniously stolen,
embezzled, or secreted, and to have been sent, or to have been
intended to be sent, by post, shall be guilty of felony and shall
be liable to the same punishment as if he had stolen,
embezzled, or secreted it or them.
68. Everyone who fraudulently retains, or wilfully
secretes, or keeps, or detains, or, when required by an officer
of the Post Office to do so, refuses or neglects to deliver up, a
postal packet which ought to have been delivered to another,
or a mail bag or postal packet which has been found by him
or by any other person, shall be liable on summary conviction
to a fine of forty-eight thousand seven hundred and fifty
dollars or to imprisonment for six months.

69. (1) Anyone, not being an officer of the Post Office,
who wilfully and maliciously, with intent to injure another,
either opens or causes to be opened any postal packet which
ought to have been delivered to that other person, or does any
act or thing whereby the due delivery of the packet to that
other person is prevented or impeded, shall on summary
conviction be liable to a fine of forty-eight thousand seven
hundred and fifty dollars or to imprisonment for six months.
(2) Nothing in this section shall apply to a person
who does any act to which this section applies where he is
parent, or in the position of a parent or guardian, of the
person to whom the packet is addressed.
(3) Subject to article 187 of the Constitution, a
prosecution shall not be instituted in pursuance of this section
except by direction of the Postmaster General.
70. Any officer of the Post Office who steals, or for any
purposes whatsoever embezzles, secretes, or destroys, a mail
bag or postal packet, or any contents of a postal packet, shall
LAWS OF GUYANA
54 Cap. 47:01 Post and Telegraph
Post Office of
mail bag or
postal packet.

Opening or
delaying postal
packet.
[6 of 1997]
Carelessness,
negligence or
misconduct of
person
employed in
carriage or
delivery of mail
bag or postal
packet.
[6 of 1997]
be guilty of felony, and shall be liable to imprisonment for
seven years, or, if the contents consisted of any chattel or
money whatsoever, or any valuable security as defined by
any Act for the time being in force relating to indictable
offences, for fourteen years.
71. (1) Any officer of the Post Office who, contrary to
his duty, opens or procures or suffers to be opened, a postal
packet, or wilfully detains or delays, or procures or suffers to
be detained or delayed, a postal packet shall be liable on
summary conviction to a fine of forty- eight thousand seven
hundred and fifty dollars or to imprisonment for six months.
(2) Nothing in this section shall extend to the
opening, detaining, or delaying of a postal packet authorised
to be opened, detained, or delayed by or in pursuance of this
Act or in obedience to an express warrant in writing under
the hand of the Minister.
72. Everyone who, being employed to convey or
deliver a mail bag or postal packet –
(a) whilst so employed, or whilst it is in
his custody or possession, leaves it,
or, without due authority, suffers any
person, not being the guard or person
employed for that purpose, to ride in
the place appointed for the guard in
or upon any carriage used for the
conveyance of it, or to ride in or upon
any carriage so used and not licensed
to carry passengers, or upon any
horse used for the conveyance on
horseback of it; or
(b) is guilty of any act of drunkenness, or
of carelessness, negligence, or other
misconduct, whereby the safety of the
bag or postal packet is endangered; or
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Issuing money
order with
fraudulent
intent.

Effect of postal
order.
Fraudulent
obliteration of
crossing of
postal order.
(c) collects or receives, or conveys or
delivers, a letter otherwise than in the
ordinary course of post; or
(d) gives any false information of an
assault or attempt at robbery upon
him; or
(e) loiters on the road or passage, or
wilfully misspends his time so as to
delay the arrival of a mail bag or
postal packet, or does not use due
care and diligence safely to convey a
mail bag or postal packet at the rate of
speed appointed by the regulations,
or, in default of regulations, by the
Postmaster General,
shall be liable to a fine of nineteen thousand five hundred
dollars.
73. (1) Any officer of the Post Office who grants or
issues any money order with a fraudulent intent, shall be
guilty of felony and shall be liable to imprisonment for seven
years.
(2) Any officer of the Post Office who re-issues a
postal order previously paid shall be deemed to have issued
the order with a fraudulent intent under this section.
74. A postal order under this Act shall be deemed to
be an order for the payment of money and a valuable security
within the meaning of this Act.

75. Everyone who, with intent to defraud, obliterates,
adds to, or alters any lines or words on a postal order which
would, in the case of a cheque, be a crossing of that cheque, or
knowingly offers, utters, or disposes of any postal order, with
that fraudulent obliteration, addition, or alteration, shall be
LAWS OF GUYANA
56 Cap. 47:01 Post and Telegraph

Application of
law relating to
stamp duties to
postal orders.

Removal of
stamp from
postal matter.
[4 of 1972
6 of 1997]
Use by officer
of Post Office of
stamp a second
time.
[6 of 1997]
guilty of felony and shall be liable to the like punishment as if
the order were a cheque.
76. The provisions of law respecting the punishment
of offences connected with stamp duties (including the
provisions relating to moulds, frames, instruments, and
machinery for the making of paper, and to the punishment of
fraud), shall apply in like manner as if any poundage or
commission chargeable for a postal order were stamp duty,
and as if the paper used for postal orders were paper
provided by the commissioners of stamps for receiving the
impression of a die.
77. Any officer of the Post Office who wilfully and
unlawfully removes from any postal matter any postage
stamp affixed thereto in payment of the postage shall be liable
to a fine of thirty-two thousand five hundred dollars.
78. Any officer of the Post Office who wilfully and
knowingly –
(a) uses, or causes or allows to be used in
pre-payment of postage any postage
stamp, postal card, or stamped
envelope, or any stamp cut or taken
from a stamped envelope, which has
already been once used for a like
purpose; or
(b) removes or attempts to remove the
cancelling or defacing marks from a
postage stamp or postal card or
stamped envelope, with intent to use
or cause the use of it a second time, or
to sell or offer to sell it; or
(c) removes from any letter or other
postal matter deposited in or received
at a Post Office the stamps attached
L.R.O. 1/2011
LAWS OF GUYANA
Post and Telegraph Cap. 47:01 57
L.R.O. 1/2011

Use by other
person of
stamp a second
time.
[6 of 1997]

Prohibition of
placing
injurious
substance in or
against post
office letter box.
[6 of 1997]
Prohibition of
affixture on
Post Office
property.
[13 of 1976
6 of 1997]
thereto in payment of postage, with
intent to use them a second time for a
like purpose or to sell or offer to sell
them,
shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine of thirty-two
thousand five hundred dollars or to imprisonment for four
months.
79. Anyone not being an officer of the Post Office,
who commits any of the offences mentioned in the last
preceding section, shall be liable on summary conviction to a
fine of nine thousand seven hundred and fifty dollars or to
imprisonment for three months.
80. (1) No one shall place, or attempt to place, in or
against any post office letter box, any fire, match, light,
explosive substance, dangerous substance, filth, noxious or
deleterious substance, or fluid, or shall commit a nuisance in
or against any post office letter box, or shall do or attempt to
do anything likely to injure the box or its appurtenances or
contents.
(2) Everyone who contravenes this section shall be
guilty of a misdemeanour and shall be liable on summary
conviction to a fine of nine thousand seven hundred and fifty
dollars, and on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for
one year.
81. (1) No one shall, without due authority, affix or
attempt to affix any placard, advertisement, notice, list,
document, board, or thing on, or paint or tar, any post office,
post office letter box, telegraph post, or any other property
belonging to or used by or on behalf of the Post Office or the
Corporation, as the case may be, or in any way disfigure that
office, box, post, or property.
(2) Everyone who contravenes this section shall be
liable to a fine of one thousand nine hundred and fifty dollars.
LAWS OF GUYANA
58 Cap. 47:01 Post and Telegraph
Prohibition of
imitation of
Post Office
stamps,
envelopes,
forms and
marks.
[13 of 1976
6 of 1997]
82. (1) No one shall, without due authority-
(a) make, issue, use, or send, by post or
otherwise, any envelope, wrapper,
card, form, or paper in imitation of
one issued by or under the authority
of the Post Office, or of any
Commonwealth or foreign postal
authority, or having thereon any
words, letters, or marks which signify
or imply or may reasonably lead the
recipient to believe that a postal
packet bearing them is sent on
Guyana Government service; or
(b) make on any envelope, wrapper, card,
form, or paper, for the purpose of
being issued or sent by post or
otherwise, or otherwise used, any
mark in imitation of, or similar to, or
purporting to be, any stamp or mark
of any post office in Guyana, or of any
post office under any Commonwealth
or foreign postal authority, or any
words, letters, or marks which signify
or imply, or may reasonably lead the
recipient thereof to believe, that a
postal packet bearing them is sent on
Guyana Government service; or
(c) issue or send, by post or otherwise,
any envelope, wrapper, card, form, or
paper so marked.
(2) Everyone who contravenes this section shall be
liable to a fine of one thousand nine hundred and fifty dollars.
L.R.O. 1/2011
LAWS OF GUYANA
Post and Telegraph Cap. 47:01 59
L.R.O. 1/2011
Prohibition of
fictitious
stamp,
international
reply coupon,
or postal
identity card.
[6 of 1997]
Use of postage
stamps for
postal
purposes.
[13 of 1976]


Prohibition of
false notice as
to reception of
letters.
[13 of 1976
6 of 1997]
83. (1) No one shall –
(a) make, knowingly utter, deal in, sell or
offer for sale; or
(b) knowingly use for any postal
purpose; or
(c) have in his possession, unless he
shows a lawful excuse; or
(d) make, or, unless he shows a lawful
excuse, have in his possession, any
die, plate, instrument, or materials for
making,
any fictitious or counterfeit stamp, international reply coupon
or postal identity card.
(2) Anyone who contravenes this section shall be
liable on summary conviction to a fine of nineteen thousand
five hundred dollars.
denote the payment of stamp duties other than duties of
postage.
(2) A postal packet shall be deemed to be
unstamped or insufficiently stamped, as the case may be, if it
is not duly stamped for the purpose of denoting the payment
of the duty of postage.
Office, place or maintain in or on any house, wall, door,
window, box, post, pillar, or other place belonging to him or
under his control any of the words, letters, or marks
following, that is to say—
(a) the words “post office,” or “postal
83A. (1) Adhesive postage stamps shall not be used to
84. (1) No one shall, without authority from the Post
LAWS OF GUYANA
60 Cap. 47:01 Post and Telegraph

Obstruction of
officer of Post
Office in
execution of
duty, or of post
office business.
[6 of 1997]
telegram office,” or “money order
office”; or
(b) the words “letter box,” accompanied
with words, letters, colouring, or
marks which signify or imply, or may
reasonably lead the public to believe,
that it is a post office letter box; or (c)
any words, letters, or marks which
signify or imply, or may reasonably
lead the public to believe, that any
house or place is a post office, or that
any box is a post office letter box;
and everyone, when required by a notice given by the Post
Office to remove or efface any of the words, letters, or marks
aforesaid, or to remove or effectually close up any letter box
belonging to him or under his control which has been a post
office letter box, shall comply with that request.
(2) Everyone who contravenes this section shall be
liable to a fine of one thousand nine hundred and fifty dollars,
and if the offence is continued after a previous conviction, to a
fine of one hundred and ninety-five dollars for every day
during which the offence so continues.
another to obstruct, an officer of the Post Office in the
execution of his duty, or, whilst in any post office or within
any premises belonging to any post office or used therewith,
obstructs the course of business of the post office, shall be
liable to a fine of one thousand nine hundred and fifty dollars.
(2) Any officer of the Post Office may require
anyone guilty of an offence under this section to leave a post
office or any premises aforesaid, and anyone so required who
refuses or neglects to comply with the requirement, shall be
liable to a further fine of four thousand eight hundred and
seventy-five dollars and may be removed by any officer of the
L.R.O. 1/2011
85. (1) Everyone who wilfully obstructs, or incites
LAWS OF GUYANA
Post and Telegraph Cap. 47:01 61
L.R.O. 1/2011
Disclosing
information by
officer of Post
Office.
[13 of 1976]
Omission of
officer of Post
office to
transmit or
delaying
transmission,
or divulging
contents of,
telegram.
[13 of 1976
6 of 1997]

Delivery of
telegram to
person other
than addressee.
[6 of 1997]
post office, and all constables are hereby required on demand
to remove him or assist in his removal.

who, contrary to his duty, discloses or in any way makes
known or intercepts the contents, or any part of the contents,
of any telegraphic message or telegram entrusted to the
Corporation or the Post Office for the purpose of
transmission, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour and shall be
liable to imprisonment for one year.
who –
(a) wilfully or negligently omits or delays
to transmit or deliver any telegraphic
message or telegram entrusted to the
Corporation or the Post Office for the
purpose of transmission; or
(b) by any wilful act or omission prevents
or delays the transmission or delivery
of that telegraphic message or
telegram; or

(c) improperly divulges to any person
the purport of any telegraphic
message or telegram,
shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine of nineteen
thousand five hundred dollars or to imprisonment for four
months.
telegraphic message or telegram, who, whilst so employed,
wilfully delivers it to any person other than the person to
whom it is addressed or to his agent in that behalf, shall be
liable on summary conviction to a fine of thirty-two thousand
five hundred dollars or to imprisonment for six months.
86. Any officer of the Corporation or of the post office
87. Any officer of the Corporation or of the post office
88. Any person, employed to convey or deliver a
LAWS OF GUYANA
62 Cap. 47:01 Post and Telegraph
Sending
telegram in
false name.
[6 of 1997]
Trial of
offences.

Provisions as to
property in
offences
relating to the
Corporation or
the Post
Office.
(the proof whereof shall lie on him), signs the name of any
other person to any telegraphic message or telegram, with the
intent to procure the message or telegram to be sent as a
message or telegram from that other person, shall be liable to
a fine of one thousand nine hundred and fifty dollars.
in the county, district or place, in which it was actually
committed, or in any county, district, or place, in which the
alleged offender is, or (where the offence is in respect of a
mail, mail bag, or postal packet, or the contents of any postal
packet) in any county, district, or place, through which or any
part thereof the mail, mail bag, or postal packet passed in due
course of conveyance by post.
(2) Where the offence is committed on any
highway, harbour, canal, river, arm of the sea, or other water
constituting the boundary of two or more counties, districts,
or places, it may be tried in any of those counties, districts, or
places.
(3) The offence of being accessory to, or of aiding
or abetting, an offence against this Act may be tried in any
county, district, or place, in which the last-mentioned offence
may be tried.
(4) Any offence authorised by this Act to be tried
in any county, district, or place, may be dealt with, heard,
tried, determined, adjudged, and punished, and the offender
may be apprehended, as if the offence had been wholly
committed in that county, district, or place.
committed or attempted to be committed, or any malicious,
injurious, or fraudulent act or thing done in, upon, or with
respect to the Corporation or the Post Office or the revenue of
the Corporation or the Post Office, or any mail bag, postal
packet, contents of a postal packet, post office money order,
L.R.O. 1/2011
89. Everyone who, without lawful authority or excuse
90. (1) An offence against this Act may be tried either
91. (1) In any legal proceeding for any offence
LAWS OF GUYANA
Post and Telegraph Cap. 47:01 63
L.R.O. 1/2011
[13 of 1976]
Evidence of
thing being
postal packet.
[13 of 1976]
Power to
compound
action.
[13 of 1976]
postal order, or post office telegraphic message or telegram,
or in anywise concerning any property under the
management or control of the Corporation or the Post Office,
it shall be sufficient to allege the property to belong to the
Corporation or the Post Office, as the case may be, and to
allege the act or thing to have been done with intent to injure
or defraud the Corporation or the Post Office, as the case may
be, and it shall not be necessary to allege or to prove at the
trial or otherwise that the mail bag, postal packet, contents,
order, telegraphic message, telegram, or property was of any
value.
(2) In any legal proceeding against any officer of
the Corporation or the Post Office for any offence committed
against this Act, it shall be sufficient to allege that the
offender was an officer of the Corporation or the Post Office,
as the case may be, at the time of the commission of the
offence, without stating further the nature or particulars of his
employment.

whether on summary conviction or on indictment, evidence
that any article is in the course of transmission by post, or has
been accepted on behalf of the Post Office for transmission by
post, shall be sufficient evidence that the article is a postal
packet.
Postmaster General may compromise and compound any
legal proceeding commenced by or on behalf of the
Corporation or the Post Office, as the case may be, against any
person for recovering any penalty or forfeiture incurred
under this Act on any terms and conditions the General
Manager or the Postmaster General as the case may be, thinks
proper, with full power for them, or any of their officers or
agents authorised by them to accept any penalty or forfeiture
so incurred or alleged to be incurred, or any part thereof,
without any legal proceeding for the recovery thereof.
92. On the prosecution of any offence under this Act,
93. The General Manager of the Corporation or the
LAWS OF GUYANA
64 Cap. 47:01 Post and Telegraph
Saving of
liability under
other law.

Regulation as
to post office
letter boxes.

Power to issue
Post Office
Guide.
[7 of 1945
13 of 1976]
against a person in respect of an offence under this Act, which
is also an offence punishable at common law or under some
written law for the time being in force other than this Act, the
court may direct that, instead of those proceedings being
continued, proceedings shall be taken for punishing that
person at common law or under some written law other than
this Act.
that any post office letter box, by reason of being on the
premises of any private person or otherwise, is so situated as
not to afford the same security against the improper removal
of postal packets therefrom or other fraud as exists in the case
of other post office letter boxes, he may declare that that box
shall be a private posting box, and shall affix upon or near the
box a notice of its being, and of the effect of its being, a
private posting box, and a postal packet put into that box
shall not, for the purpose of any enactment, law, or contract,
whereby the due posting of a postal packet is evidence of the
receipt thereof by the addressee, be deemed to have been duly
posted.
(2) A certificate purporting to be signed by the
Postmaster General, and to the effect that any box or
receptacle is or was provided by the permission or under the
authority of the Postmaster General for the purpose of
receiving postal packets, or any of them, shall, in any legal
proceeding, be evidence of the facts stated in the certificate.
guide, to be called the Post Office Guide.
(2) The Post Office may include in the Post Office
Guide –
(a) the regulations and the orders made
under this Act;
L.R.O. 1/2011
94. When proceedings are taken before any court
95. (1) Where it appears to the Postmaster General
96. (1) The Post Office may from time to time issue a
LAWS OF GUYANA
Post and Telegraph Cap. 47:01 65
L.R.O. 1/2011

Application of
certain
provisions of
the Stamp
Duties
(Management)
Act.
c. 80:03.
[13 of 1976]

Making of
regulations
relating to
postal business
and the postal
department.
(b) a statement of the amount of any rate,
fee or charge fixed by any such
regulation or order in council; and
(c) such other information as the Post
Office may deem fit to include.
(3) Where any statement in the Post Office Guide
requires to be corrected, the Post Office shall, as soon as
practicable, cause to be published in the Gazette a notice of the
correction.
(4) Copies of the Post Office Guide shall be sold at
such price as may be fixed by the Post Office.
of the Stamp Duties (Management) Act shall, as they apply in
relation to stamps to which that Act applies, apply mutatis
mutandis to postage stamps.

Regulations and Fines
Assembly, the Minister may make regulations relating to all
or any of the following matters:
(a) the guidance, conduct, and discipline
of the officers of the Post Office in the
performance of their several duties,
with power to impose fines for
neglect or misconduct;
(b) the guidance and control of the public
dealing with the postal department;
96A. Sections 10 to 18 (both inclusive) and 41, 42 and 43
97. Subject to negative resolution of the National
LAWS OF GUYANA
66 Cap. 47:01 Post and Telegraph
(c) declaring what articles shall be
deemed and dealt with as postal
matter;
(d) the classification of postal matter so as
to establish a standard by which
postage shall be apportioned,
according as the postal matter consists
of letters, or book or other postal
packets;
(e) dealing with postal matter posted
after the hour fixed for the closing of
any mail, whether inland or foreign,
with power to charge extra postage
upon postal matter posted late but
intended to be transmitted forthwith;
(f) the registration of postal matter and
the charging of fees therefor, and the
receiving, safe-keeping, and delivery
of that registered postal matter;
(g) regulating the issue and payment of
post office orders for the payment of
money (including postal orders) and
the conduct of business connected
therewith;
(h) the disposal and rental of private
letter-boxes erected in any post office,
with power to fix the amount and
conditions of payment to be made by
box-holders for the use of those boxes,
and the delivery of postal matter by
means thereof;
(i) the delivery of postal matter by
private bags made up in any post
L.R.O. 1/2011
LAWS OF GUYANA
Post and Telegraph Cap. 47:01 67
L.R.O. 1/2011

office in Guyana, to be dropped at
any place along the route by which
mails are conveyed, with power to fix
the amount and conditions of
payment to be made for the special
service so rendered;
(j) the regulation of the period during
which undelivered postal matter shall
remain in any post office, and after
what period that matter shall be
returned to the dead letter office; and
the return from the dead letter office
to the senders of postal matter which
cannot be delivered to the parties
addressed, and the disposal, by
delivery or otherwise, of other postal
matter;
(k) the conditions under which
telegraphic messages or telegrams
will be transmitted, and the charges to
be made for their transmission;
(l) regulating the use of the telegraph or
any portion thereof, by any person,
company, or corporation, and the
charges to be made for that use;
(m) the conditions under which, and the
manner in which, special services
shall be performed by the postal
department for the convenience of
individuals, with power to fix the
amounts and conditions of payment
for that special service; and
(n) generally, regulating the business of
the postal department.
LAWS OF GUYANA
68 Cap. 47:01 Post and Telegraph
Post Office fine
fund.
[7 of 1945
13 of 1976]

Delegation of
functions.
[13 of 1976]

S. 8
[Reg 18/1940]
[13 of 1976]
shall be paid into a fund to be called the Post Office Fine
Fund.
(2) The fund shall be appropriated for the benefit
of the officers of the Post Office, and shall be administered in
the manner from time to time prescribed by the regulations;
but no officer shall be deemed to have any claim whatever as
of right of the fund.
(3) The Post Office shall submit with each annual
report on the postal department a statement showing the
receipts and expenditure and the financial position of the
fund for the year under report.
Corporation any function relating to telegraphs vested in him
by any provision of this Act.
SCHEDULE
DECLARATION OF OFFICER OF THE CORPORATION
I, ................................................................................., do solemnly
and sincerely declare that I will not, contrary to my duty,
improperly divulge any knowledge by reason of my
employment as an officer of the Guyana Telecommunications
Corporation.
………………...........................................(Signed)
Declared before me
.................................................................... this ..........................day
......................................................of 20.........
Magistrate
L.R.O. 1/2011
98. (1) All fines imposed and received under this Act
99. The Minister, may by order, delegate to the