1. The original idea.
The concept of pre-paying the cost of a telegram sent to a recipient began in New South Wales in 1861. The Government Gazette of 23 December announced that telegrams requiring an immediate answer could be sent with the words "Reply quickly by Telegraph" or "Reply paid here" added to the message for no additional cost.
The implication of these phrases was that the Messenger would be required to wait for up to 5 minutes after delivering the telegram so as to bring a reply back to the Telegraph Office.
The restriction on the telegram was that the reply could only be sent to the sender of the original telegram who had paid an additional cost to cover the cost of a basic reply. If the recipient could not reply within the time, the telegram could be brought to the Telegraph Office any time up to one month after its receipt and a reply sent. After a month had elapsed, the original sender could apply for a refund of the additional amount paid.
2. The 1895 regulations.
The Government Gazette of 18 June 1895 noted the following amended regulation of the Electric Telegraph Act had been substituted for that previously in force in regard to reply paid telegrams:
"When the sender of a telegram wishes to pay for a reply thereto, he should affix in stamps a minimum rate for the reply in addition to the charge for the original telegram. If the reply contains more words than have been prepaid, the excess must be paid for or guaranteed by the sender of the reply. The words "reply paid' must be added as the last words of the text, and these words, in the event of their being in excess of the 10, will be charged for as part of the telegram. In cases of emergency, or where the person is known to the Officer in charge, the sender of a telegram to any place within the Colony will be allowed to mark his message "reply paid" without being required to prepay the reply is advance. But before the telegram is accepted, the sender will be required to sign an undertaking on a printed form, provided for the purpose, agreeing to pay for the reply on delivery.
In the event of replies which have been paid for not arriving within a month, the amount so paid will be refunded on application".
These regulations were clear in the context of telegrams sent within the New South Wales Colony but arrangements were less clear when pre-paying telegrams to other Colonies (see Charters Towers The Northern Miner 3 July 1886 p 3).
3. The 1903 Regulations.
The new regulations relating to the reception and transmission of telegrams set out that, in reply-paid telegrams, the two words "reply paid" must be paid for by the sender as part of the message before the message is accepted. If this regulation be not complied with, the telegram will not be sent.
Reply-paid telegrams were used frequently by: