The Department of Posts (DoP), Ministry of Communications is proposing an initiative to establish an interoperable, standardized and user-centric addressing system as part of the national digital public infrastructure. Titled Digital Hub for Reference and Unique Virtual Address or DHRUVA, it envisages simplified and seamless service delivery and efficient governance, thereby enabling “Address as a Service” (AaaS) in India.
A Policy Document on the above, titled “Digital Hub for Reference and Unique Virtual Address or DHRUVA – The Digital Address DPI” was circulated on 30.05.2025 earlier, and the inputs received from various stakeholders and the public consultations were incorporated.
The Department has now prepared a draft of the proposed amendments to the Post Office Act, 2023 (Act) to provide the legislative strength for the said DHRUVA framework and the associated ecosystem reforms through amendments to the Act.
The proposed amendments seek to operationalise a modern, secure, interoperable and user-centric digital addressing ecosystem for India, through:
- Digital Address Identifiers (DAI)
- Addresses and postcodes
- Generation and use of address identifiers.
- Validation of address information associated with an address identifier
- Registration of Address Service Providers (ASPs)
- Authorization of Address Validation Agencies (AVAs)
- Creation of a national Network Administrator
- Consent-based mechanisms for generation, exchange, validation, access & use of address information
- Establishing a governance architecture to support India’s digital public infrastructure vision for address management,
- Grievance redress, adjudication, and penalties
An Explanatory Note summarizing and explaining the provisions of the draft amendment has also been prepared for wider public understanding.
The Department invites comments/feedback from the public, industry etc. as a part of the public consultation exercise on the proposed draft amendments through. The draft Bill and explanatory notes can be assessed at https://indiapost.gov.in. Comments on the draft amendments may be sent by email on : digipin@indiapost.gov.in, latest by 31st December 2025
