New Delhi, July 12 :    New Delhi, July 12:  The industry has asked the government not to botch up the eventual privatisation of the postal department and that it should learn from the mistakes that were made in the power and telecom sectors. It has also suggested a separate regulator for the postal system and separation of ownership and policy-making functions from operations of the government-owned utilities. This model already exists in power and telecom sectors and can be replicated in the postal department. The trend since the early nineties in the utility regulation has been to separate ownership and operation, as in telecom and electricity, and set up an independent regulator to license operators and prescribe standards of service. With the Indian Postal Office (Amendment Bill, 2002) likely to be discussed in Parliament, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) has sent a letter to communications minister Pramod Mahajan urging him to reconsider a few vital issues and incorporate their suggestions in the Bill. The amendment Bill proposes more changes in the Indian Post Office Act, 1898. 'The proposed Post Office (Amendment) Bill 2002 does not make provision for this elementary separation. The operating arm of the post, which should have been treated as a deemed registered body, has been confused with and treated as the central government itself, short of establishing an independent regulatory body,' says the Ficci letter sent to Mahajan. 'The least that should have been done was to separate the regulatory functions of the government to another ministry or department. If the secretary to the government in the department of posts is the head of the operating arm, it will neither be equitable nor fair that an appeal against the order of suspension of revocation of registration should lie with him,' it added. Ficci has urged that instead of a Bill to further amend the Indian Post Office Act of 1898, it should have been a Bill to replace it. It has suggested that the title of the Bill should be changed to Indian Postal and Express Services (Operation and Regulation) Act 2002. 'This is most appropriate since operation and regulation of the government-owned-and-operated post office and the couriers are proposed to be regulated,' sources in the chamber said. While recognising the existence and operation of the courier industry, which has grown without government help or regulation, the Bill seeks to introduce control of the incumbent dominant operator over the courier industry through the provision of registration.