The return request comes from a pincode where forward delivery works fine — but reverse pickup doesn't exist. The reverse-coverage gap is real: couriers deliver further than they'll collect from. What to do when the return address has no pickup.
The asymmetric maps
Forward delivery reaches every serviceable pincode; reverse pickup needs a rider willing to collect — narrower by design. Your customer received the parcel easily; returning it is a different coverage map entirely.
The customer-ships-back model
Where pickup doesn't exist, the customer ships the return themselves — to your address, via India Post or a local courier, costs reimbursed or shared. The friction is real (a customer who must visit a courier office churns) but it beats 'returns not available'.
The India Post option
India Post picks up and delivers everywhere — including where private reverse coverage ends. Slower, less convenient, but the coverage floor that exists when nothing else does.
The policy-level fix
Know your reverse-coverage map before promising 'easy returns' — on pincodes where pickup doesn't exist, the policy says 'self-ship returns, freight refunded'. The honest policy beats a broken promise at return time.
Pure Parcel runs the whole stack described here — one place for every carrier.
See how →The playbook
Check reverse serviceability per pincode
Your return-heavy areas specifically.
Offer self-ship returns as fallback
Refund their freight — the workaround that works.
Use India Post as the floor
Coverage exists where private ends.
State the policy honestly
'Pickup where available, self-ship otherwise'.
