Revision of foreign postage rates of letter post items with effect from 01.09.2016

To view the gazette notification on revision

To view Dte Order

700% Increase in Post Office Small Savings Schemes

Till November last year, the collection of small savings through post offices stood at Rs 21,041 crore, compared to Rs 2,360 crore till November 2014, according to data available at National Savings Institute.

Add to this the small savings collection by banks (in the forms of public provident fund (PPF), senior citizens' savings scheme and Sukanya Samridhi accounts), and the figure rises to Rs 49,051 crore. The PPF collection data of the previous year is unavailable, making it not possible to compare.

Banks are already pitching for parity in interest rates of small savings, as it is seen as a hindrance in smooth transmission of the impact of earlier interest rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India.

"There is a huge gap between the small savings and bank interest rate. It is long-pending demand of the banks that there should be some parity between the two,'' said Charan Singh, executive director, UCO Bank.

At present, bank fixed deposit earns between seven and 7.5 per cent interest rate on an average of a five-year tenure. In contrast, the interest rates on small savings hover between 8.4 per cent and 9.2 per cent across different schemes.

Post office small savings collections up 700% Gross post office small savings collection saw nearly a 40 per cent increase in collection between November 2014 and November 2015 to Rs 2,15,803 crore.

The government is also considering a reduction in interest rate on small savings. In December 2015, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said that the government will bring down interest rates on small savings "cautiously".

West Bengal remained the top state in terms of small savings collection, with total net collections a Rs 3,974 crore till November 2015, against Rs 1,381 crore till November 2014, showing a rise of 188 per cent. After West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh accounts for highest collections in small savings at Rs 3120 crore net collections till November 2015, an increase of 185 per cent in November 2014.

Earlier, in view of the dwindling small savings collections, the government had in April 2015 marginally revised rates on small savings interest rates. The interest rate on the Sukanya Samriddhi account was raised from 9.1 per cent to 9.2 per cent a year for 2015-16 and the interest rate on Senior Citizens Savings' Scheme was raised from 9.2 to 9.3 per cent for FY16. Those on other schemes were kept unchanged. Under Sukanya Samriddhi account, which was launched in January 2015, the total collections till November 2015 stood at nearly Rs 283 crore.

400 e-tailers team up with postal department for delivery

NEW DELHI: 
More than 400 e-commerce companies are leveraging the extensive reach of the Department of Posts (DoP) in an effort to deliver their consignments at every nook and corner of the country. "The Department has tied up with more than 400 e-commerce agencies, including Flipkart, Amazon, YepMe, Snapdeal and the like for delivering e-commerce pre-paid as well as cash-on-delivery (COD) orders," an internal note of the communications and IT ministry said. DoP has a network of some 1.55 lakh post offices, of which 1.3 lakh are in rural areas. Of all, Amazon is the biggest partner in terms of business with India Posts. As per the note, DoP received Rs 1,150 crore from parcels under the COD category, which is expected to cross the Rs 1,500-crore mark by the end of the current fiscal. "DoP is delivering 40,000 e-commerce parcels per day and the average value of parcels handled by India Post is Rs 5,000 for urban areas and Rs 3,000 for rural areas," the note said

India Post is grappling with e-tail shift: Kavery Banerjee

The department of posts is leaving no stone unturned to ride on the e-commerce boom across the country. From making dedicated corridors for delivery to training postmen to handle big volumes, besides connecting all postal products through technology, the department has chalked a strategy to overcome the shift in their functioning. Secretary of Department of Posts, Kavery Banerjee, tells Mansi Taneja the plan for e-commerce and the payments bank venture. Excerpts: 

E-commerce has come as a boon for the postal department. What is the long-term strategy to boost revenues? 
We have been focusing on our strategy and how to move forward for the past one year. E- commerce has emerged as a key opportunity. Our revenue and parcel revenues have grown by 120 per cent. We are grappling with a paradigm shift. A fresh look is being given to ways of processing, transmission, and delivery. We have set up 48 dedicated processing centres for handling parcels. The maximum orders are coming from smaller places where aspirations are high - Tier-II and -III cities and small villages such as in Leh and Ladakh and north-eastern regions. India Post is a natural partner for e-commerce companies because of our reach and network. We are looking at 100 per cent year-on-year growth and by March we will generate revenues of Rs 250 crore from parcels and speed post. Through cash-on-delivery, we reached Rs 1,200 crore. 

How are you coping up with huge volumes from the e-commerce sector? Do you plan to purchase your own vehicles for a better delivery mechanism?  
We are struggling with huge volumes in e-commerce. We are struggling with airlines, that have their own capacity constraints. Planning to set up dedicated routes through roads for delivery. We are also in the process of aggregating delivery centres and booking offices. It will be vehicle-driven. We are exploring how to incentivise postmen to use their vehicles for delivery where possible. In hilly and difficult terrains, the mode has to be on foot. For major areas, we plan to outsource vehicles. 

What kind of incentives? 
 We want to make it more attractive to postmen/delivery agents for using their own vehicles and considering various options. We have set up a committee to look into the compensation of rural officers, mainly who work part-time and plan to restructure accordingly. This happens every time the Pay Commission is announced. The committee's report will be out in sometime, after which we have to look at the financial implications and take finance ministry's approval for it. There have been issues with last-mile delivery. Many e-commerce firms have been complaining about delays in delivery and loss of items. We have put in a place a track-and-trace system. Technology has not reached smaller post offices, which is why it takes time to upload information. We have explained this to all our e-commerce partners about timings in smaller towns and villages. One can't expect a delivery in a village within a day. We have made arrangements to deliver outside office hours and even, on holidays now. Also, we will be connecting all our postal products - letters, parcels and other - through technology, which will enable immediate uploading of information - booking, delivery and timings. Currently, the trials are going on and we plan to roll it out by end of this year. We have also rolled out solar powered handheld devices through which one can send money orders/remittances and also make payments for various government run schemes. The department is looking to roll out 20,000 such devices by end of this month and 130,000 by end of March 2017. 

How are you training your existing staff with this change in the functioning of the department? Are you concerned over the age profile? 
E-commerce in India has suddenly taken off, in the last two years, while in the West, they moved towards it gradually over 15 years. It has taken us by surprise as well. There are many rounds of training going on for the staff all over the country. Courses are available online as well with a focus on e-commerce. We are working on their skills - how to interact with people. Age profile is shifting, we have inducted a lot of young people recently. Many of them are engineers. For instance, for 800 vacancies in Delhi, we got some 30 lakh applications and most of them were doctors, engineers, paramedics. These people come with a certain background and are comfortable using technology. We are also rotating people in different sections. 

What is the update on your Payments Bank venture. Will it be first step towards a full-fledged bank? 
We have selected a consultant for this venture. We have to submit the plan to RBI March 2017. We want to leverage our reach and network. Every post office will be a point of access. We also plan to set up white labeled ATMs. We will have various tie-ups for the venture, will mix use of delivery staff to facilitate doorstep banking. Our 2.8 lakh network of small saving agents will also be used. We can also partner with banks to offer credit products. We will launch products which will not be in direct competition to our existing portfolio. Money order might be hived off and make way for remittances through Payments bank riding on technology. It will be much cheaper, we have seen traffic coming down in money orders because it is expensive.We will also look at last mile delivery of payments. We will hire set of professionals for running banking operations of Payments Bank. The plan is to set up a full bank, Payments bank is the first step. Banks consider us to be a serious threat and there is serious resistance against us getting into banking space. Source:  http://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/india-post-is-grappling-with-e-tail-shift-kavery-banerjee-116031600041_1.html

Read more at: http://www.palegacyblogspot.in/2016/03/india-post-is-grappling-with-e-tail.html
Courtesy : PA Legacy (http://www.palegacyblogspot.in/)

2,590 post offices have core banking facilities : Prasad

AGARTALA: Even as the Reserve Bank of India is expected to give Department of Posts (DoP) payment bank licence by September, there are 2,590 post offices in the country with core banking facilities, Communication and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Sunday.

"I want to change the profile of the post office by extending its service to the poorer section of the people. We have applied for a payment bank licence with the RBI to bring a large section of unbanked populace of the country into the banking space," the Union Minister said.

There were only 236 post offices under core banking facilities, but after the current NDA government came to power last year, 2,590 post offices have now core banking facilities, he said.

The minister today dedicated the core banking service of Agartala Post Office and laid the foundation stone for Dimapur Mukhya Dak Ghar in Nagaland here by remote control.

At present, post offices offer savings bank accounts, but cannot have credit or overdraft facilities.

Under payment banking licence an entity would be allowed to accept deposits, facilitate remittances and payments, but cannot lend.

"I want Indian post offices to have all modern and digital facilities. I want a person working at a metropolitan city get the facility to remit money to his mother through the post office. I want women working in village community centres get medical facilities by digitally linking them with good doctors," he said.

The minister said the Centre wants to convert the country into a Digital India where a poor person can use smartphones and avail all modern facilities.

"At present there are 98 crore mobile phones, which will cross 100 crore soon and there are 30 crore internet connections in the country, which will also increase with the growing demand," Prasad said adding, all gram panchayats in the country would be connected with optical fibre connections.

Source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Your can track your Postman by using GPS device in October in Delhi

NEW DELHI:  Come September and customers will receive messages on their mobile phones from India Post informing them about status of mails, parcels, money orders and other deliveries.

Besides, the postal department has decided to start tracking their postmen with help of GPS enabled handheld devices by October. This will help locate the postmen visiting the addresses given to them to deliver parcels and registered posts in Delhi under a pilot project.

RELATED

44 Postal ATMs to Be Installed in Odisha

RBI May Give Payment Bank Licence to Post Department in August: Telecom Minister

Income Tax Refunds to be Put Directly in Bank Accounts

"From September, we will send SMS to people informing them about arrival of parcel at nearest centre and time period when it will be delivered," India Post Chief Postmaster General for Delhi, Vasumitra, told reporters while sharing details of activities performed during the Digital India week.

He said the Department of Posts (DoP) is procuring 1.3 lakh GPS enabled handheld devices for rural areas which will facilitate almost all kind of services delivered through post offices like issuing of receipt for mail or parcel bookings, acknowledge of deliveries, delivery of money orders.

"There is a provision of 15,000 handheld devices separately for major cities. We are in process of procuring 1,000 additional devices for pilot project in Delhi which will show us time when postmen visited various addresses. It should be in place within three months," Vasumitra said.

The DoP has plans to provide 1,30,000 rural post offices with handheld devices.

Vasumitra said that new services specially e-commerce business has increased revenue for post offices and the company is further going to enhance services for this segment.

"Last year, we earned a revenue of Rs. 48 crore from e-commerce business and this year we are planning to achieve over Rs. 100 crore from Delhi circle alone. We are also mulling entry into reverse logistics but there has been no concrete decision on it yet," Vasumitra added.

He said that postal department already provides return services of items that failed to get delivered as it is usual practice.

E-commerce currently facilitates free of cost pick up of items from customer if he wants to return it due to some fault or any other discrepancy in the product. India Post is also mulling to tap this opportunity as well.

Talking about banking project, India Post Director for Postal Services in Delhi, Abhishek Singh, said, "13 ATMs are operational and 13 are in pipeline which should be in place by October."

The DoP has plans to install 1,000 ATMs across country in this financial year and total of 3,000 ATMs under current five year plan which ends in March 2017.

Source:NDTV

Now Channapatna (Karnataka) toys can get in eCommerce

To facilitate rural entrepreneurs reach national markets, the Department of Posts is foraying into the e-commerce sector.

The new initiative will be on the lines of a pilot e-commerce model implemented at Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.

India Post is planning to enter e-commerce with the aim of promoting the interests of small and middle-level manufactures, artisans, craftsmen, weavers in the rural areas and open rural markets like how the urban manufacturers and business entrepreneurs were being benefited.

S. Rajendra Kumar, Postmaster General, South Karnataka region, said on Wednesday that a communication for introducing e-commerce platform was received recently and accordingly the postal divisions had been told to look for products suitable for marketing in the portal.

“We are in the process of establishing links with rural entrepreneurs, weavers, artisans, craftsmen and others and enter into an understanding with them for marketing their produce to the clientele across the country,” he informed.

On the expected time of roll-out of the initiative, Mr. Kumar said, “The roll-out is expected soon with at least a few products.”

Citing an example, the postmaster general said Channapatna toys had been proposed for inclusion in the e-commerce biz.

On whether the initiative gives competition to the e-commerce giants, Mr. Kumar said, “Our venture is different from entities in the e-commerce business as our initiative is only to market the rural produce. It does not sell branded commercial goods but products like honey and coffee from Coorg as being done at Postal Shoppee.”

To a question on the status of tie-ups with rural entrepreneurs, he said, “The postal divisions are exploring the possibilities of an agreement with the groups or societies of weavers, craftsmen, and others.”

Mr. Kumar said a link to access the e-commerce portal would be available on the India Post website.

“Anybody sitting in the remotest corner of the country can order for the products available in another corner. With an unbeatable network, the delivery will be faster.”

Source : http://www.thehindu.com/

New Intiatives of India Post -Touching lives in many ways

SWACHH BHARAT MISSION IN DEPARTMENT OF POSTS

   A National Cleanliness Drive of Post Offices emanated as action point as a result of Secretary, Department of Posts’ presentation before the Prime Minister on 24th June, 2014. The Drive resulted in considerable improvement in the state of cleanliness in Post Offices which have also been de-cluttered. Old time-barred records and unserviceable items including furniture and equipment have been removed and disposed off after following due process. In order to keep the Posts Offices clean, spotless and welcoming for public, all the Chief Postmasters General (CPMsG) have been instructed to continue to ensure cleanliness in all the Post Offices and also to have a Special Cleanliness Drive at least once every month in every Office.

 After announcement of official launch of 'Swachh Bharat Mission'from 2nd October 2014 by Prime Minister and on receipt of instructions of first phase of cleanliness campaign (25th September -31st October, 2014), Secretary, Department of Posts initiated the Swachh Bharat campaign in the Department by holding a Video Conference with all the Chief Postmasters General on 25th September 2014.

  Hon'ble Minister of Communications and IT also visited Post Offices as part of the Swachh Bharat Campaign.The Minister personally instructed and guided the staff about the significance of keeping Post Offices clean.His visits enthused the postal staff in making the Post Offices clean.

Swipe Cards for using India Post services

Customers can now swipe cards to pay for services, including registered post, speed post, parcel services

Hyderabad:All 3,545 post offices in the twin States will allow customers to pay for postal services using credit or debit cards within in one month, said Chief Post Master General, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana circle, B.V. Sudhakar.

He was speaking at the launch of cash point sales or swiping machine sales at General Post Office (GPO), here on Saturday.

Various services

Customers can now swipe cards to pay for services, including registered post, speed post, parcel services, MeeSeva and utility bill payment services offered by post offices, among others.

A total of 345 MeeSeva services will be covered under the swipe project that is named ‘Turanth’.

Swiping service was brought to post offices as a collaborative venture between India post and State Bank of India.

The State Bank of India wwould provide all the required swipe machines in post offices, said C.R. Sasi Kumar, Deputy Managing Director of the bank.

“It simplifies the work and reduces burden on both the customer and the service provider,” said Mr. Sudhakar. On the day of its launch most transactions were made using cards, he added.

India Post, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana circle also launched ATM cash withdrawals in its post offices.

“You can use ATM cards to withdraw money up to Rs 3,000 per day from post offices in the State.

At one go customers can withdraw up to Rs.1,000 and they are allowed three transactions per day,” he said.

Useful in rural areas

The service will be useful in rural areas where there are only a few ATMs. The service was launched for the first time in the country, post office officials informed.

Officials said that India Post in Hyderabad is also developing a software that would facilitate direct debit of instant money orders and mobile money orders into customer’s SBI accounts.

To be ready in 15 days

“The facility is expected to be ready within 15 days time,” Mr. Sudhakar said, adding his department is using technology to provide economic, efficient, effective and easy services to customers.

The Postal Department is also planning to increase the parcel volume to improve its revenue generation.

  

Source : The Hindu

Why India Post could become e-commerce’s most potent delivery partner

Why India Post could become e-commerce’s most potent delivery partner

Radhika P Nair | June 26, 2015 at 7:34 am   

India Post and e-commerce   

Sharadamani Amma, an 87-year-old great grandmother, remembers a time when the sight of mail runners would cause a great deal of excitement in the small Kerala village she grew up in. The appearance of these postal employees, who carried mail between post offices on foot, meant a letter or money order or, god forbid, a telegram—a sure sign of ill news.

But those days are long gone. The postmen are no longer held in high regard in most of the country, and few in the current generation would have even stepped into a post office, at least in urban India.

New age e-commerce companies want to change this. The likes of Amazon and Snapdeal already have pilot projects running with India Post, while newspaper reports suggest that Flipkart is set to follow suit.

But what makes India Post, seen by many as a relic of a bygone era, so attractive to these online portals?

Unbeatable network

India Post’s network of post offices in India is incomparable. None of the private courier or logistics firms can even come close say experts and e-commerce firms. “India Post has an unmatched network that is critical for the growth of e-commerce in India,” says Ashish Chitravanshi, Vice President of operations at Snapdeal. A view echoed by Amazon.in. “Through India Post’s extensive network, Amazon India is able to service over 19,000 pin-codes through 140,000 post-offices across all 35 states and union territories in India,” says Samuel Thomas, Director of transportation at Amazon India.

This network covers about 25,000 pin codes, while even large private courier companies like DTDC reach only about 10,000.

Rural depth

While the pan India network is impressive, it is India Post’s rural depth that gives it an edge. “No one can reach rural areas like India Post,” says Manish Saigal, Managing Director of advisory services firm Alvarez & Marsal India. Manish says India Post’s importance will only increase when non-metro India’s contribution to e-commerce sales surpasses that of metro India. “The top 20 cities contribute 60% in value terms right now. The pendulum will shift the other way pretty soon,” adds Manish.

The pendulum has already swung the other way for some e-tailers. Over 70% of orders for Snapdeal are from smaller cities and towns, according to Snapdeal’s VP-Operations Ashish. “The growing popularity of online shopping in these non-metro centers presents a unique set of logistical challenges like spread out population, high km/delivery factor and high cost of setting up delivery infrastructure,” explains Ashish.

 Advantage India Post

It is not just the e-commerce companies that stand to gain from a partnership with India Post. The revenue potential for India Post is quite high.

The central government agency is already handling over 1.5 lakh e-commerce deliveries a day, according to industry estimates, making India Post one of the largest delivery partners for the industry. The Business Development and Marketing Directorate of India Post, which handles delivery of parcels like those of e-commerce companies, earned revenue of Rs 1961.76 crore between April and December last year.

“A lot of people dismiss India Post but they are doing mind-boggling work on the ground for e-commerce already,” says Manish.

An advertisement put out by India Post showed the department has handled Rs 500 crore of cash-on-delivery (CoD) in the financial year 2014-15.

However, Alvarez & Marsal’s Manish says India Post needs to do more in terms of technology adoption. This is especially important for CoD. India Post does have years of experience handling and delivering cash, in the form of money orders. However, CoD unlike money order requires postmen and women to collect cash and not hand over cash. E-commerce companies also expect this cash to be remitted into their accounts daily and further expect transparent and instant system updates.

This technology integration between India Post and e-commerce companies is beginning to happen. “We have integrated Amazon and Postal systems to electronically enable information sharing,” says Amazon India’s Samuel.

There are examples globally of national postal departments taking advantage of the growth of online retail. Ankur Bisen, senior Vice President at retail advisory firm Technopak, cites the examples of Deutsche Post (Germany) and Royal Mail (UK). “Both these companies were state sponsored mail carriers and realised the diminishing importance of postage. Both of them have successfully re-modelled themselves to suit the emerging e-commerce needs,” says Ankur. An AFP report in March stated that Deutsche Post’s e-commerce parcel division saw its revenues rise by 2.6% to reach 15.7 billion euros (Rs 1.11 lakh crore) in FY 2014.

“If they can marry India Post’s local knowledge and network with technology, they can become unbeatable. But they need to do this fast,” says Manish.

If this succeeds, then Sharadamani Amma’s great granddaughter Mythili will also soon wait with bated breath for the postman to call at her Bengaluru flat.

(Sources of  data and information shown in graphics: India Post annual report, India Post advertisement, Amazon India, DTDC website, news reports)

http://yourstory.com/2015/06/india-post-ecommerce/

Rural post offices across the country will also function as common service centres (CSCs) providing e-services : MoC & IT Ravi Shankar Prasad..

KOLKATA: Union Minister for Information and Technology and Communications Ravi Shankar Prasad said rural post offices across the country will also function as common service centres (CSCs) providing e-services.

He said this while asserting that the postal department had a crucial role to play in bringing in digital revolution in the country.

"Our vision of digital India is to ensure that from a mason to barber to a tyre puncture repairer, all can access newer avenues of growth using communications equipment like a smart phone," said Prasad while inaugurating the revamped building of Bhowanipore post office here.

"We are also committed to developing e-commerce, e-education and e-health. This is the larger vision of digital India. And in this digital India initiative, rural post offices have a very crucial role to play.

"We have decided that all the 1.30 lakh rural post offices should also become common service centres (CSCs) to further provide services," the minister added.

Implemented under the National e-Governance Plan and formulated by the Department of Electronics and Information Technology, the CSCs are ICT-enabled front end service delivery points at the village-level for delivery of government, financial, social and private sector services in the areas of agriculture, health, education, entertainment, FMCG products, banking, insurance, pension, utility payments etc.

Prasad said he expected the Reserve Bank of India to grant payment license to the proposed Post Bank of India by July.

"We expect to get the RBI nod by July. With 1,54,000 post offices the new initiative will usher in a financial revolution across the country," he said.

Hailing the services by the postal department, Prasad said it has done a business of Rs.500 crore in the year in e-commerce besides opening over 52 lakh accounts under the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojna receiving over Rs.1,000 in deposits.

"Whatever, be the decline in services, people still respect the Indian Railways and the postal services. I urge you all to build upon that respect and contribute towards the growth of the country," said Prasad, urging the employees to contribute towards the government's initiative to modernise the postal department.

Prasad also said state-run BSNL was also on the road to recovery.

"Now BSNL is running into losses in excess of Rs 8,000 crore. But in 2004, it earned a profit of Rs 10,000 crore. So we decided to revive it ... BSNL already has added 47 lakh new customers and its revenue has risen by 2%," he said.

The minister also said there would be 100 crore mobile connections in the country in next few years.

"In a country with a population of 125 crore, we now nearly 101 crore phone connections of which 98 crore are mobile phones. In the coming few years, we will have over 100 crore mobile phone connectivity across the country," Prasad said.

"Studies show that a country with more broadband connections has greater impact on the GDP growth.

"So we are bringing national optical fibre network connecting over 2.5 lakh gram panchayats across the country, we are bringing in broadband revolution," he added

Source : The Times of India

Postal Department to Capture Chennai Metro Rail Opening With Special Cover

CHENNAI: A love-hate relationship of Chennaites with Metro Rail has not left untouched the Postal Department, which appears to be well aware of the project getting into the imagination of the city’s denizens. 

So much so that the inauguration of Metro Rail, expected shortly, is likely to be accompanied by a special cover from the Department.

Speaking to Express, newly-appointed Chief Postmaster General for Tamil Nadu Circle, Charles Lobo, said a special cover would certainly be released to mark the occasion.

“We know how important it is. The special cover will be a limited edition one and made a collector’s item of high value. We are to consult with the State government and Metro Rail authorities on how best to release it,” he said.“We are thinking of several ways of releasing it like issuing to all the commuters on the first Metro Rail ride. The cover will be date stamped at the beginning of the journey and cancelled at the end. This will make them unique and a true collector’s item,” he added.

The Department of Posts in Tamil Nadu is also looking at releasing two other special covers this financial year — one on Mylapore Luz Church and the other on SanThome Basilica. The Luz church cover will mark the 500th anniversary of the Church, built by the Portuguese in 1516. Named the Nossa Senhora da Luz initially, it is now called the Church of Our Lady of Light.

On other business, Lobo said the Department would consider expanding its services in other sectors too, like e-commerce and travel bookings.

A recent Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with leading travel operator SRM Travels would see the Department sell tickets for the same across several e-Post office centres. “As many as 2,500 officers have been selected for this purpose and will handle it, apart from their other duties,” Lobo added.

The postal department is readying its game plan to roll out payment banking services - Hoping to get a licence in a couple of months

NEW DELHI: The postal department is readying its game plan to roll out payment banking services — hoping to get a licence in a couple of months — and is closely looking at global models and preparing to hire top executives, people familiar with the matter said.

"Based on our discussions and interactions with the RBI ( Reserve Bank of India), we hope to get a nod by July," a senior official of the Ministry of Communications & Information Technology told ET. The central bank hopes to issue payment bank licences by the end of 2015, RBI Deputy Governor SS Mundra said recently.

The postal department expects to make the payment bank viable within three years of operations. Payment banks can accept deposits and can't offer credit. "Our calculations show that we will be able to generate profits of close to .`91 crore by the end of five years," the official said.

In February, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had thrown his weight behind India Post's application, saying the government hoped to utilise its vast network of about 1.55 lakh points of presence across the country to help promote schemes such as the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, aimed at promoting access to financial services.

India Post has studied models of various postal bank models of China, Japan, Vietnam and France to chart out its growth plan. "We have set a target of opening around 650 branches by the fifth year of operations. Additionally, we hope to have around 25,000 spokes and 1.3 lakh access points across India," the official said.

According to guidelines issued by the RBI in November, payment banks can accept demand deposits, subject to a cap of .`1 lakh per customer, and provide payment and remittance services through the Internet, branches, business correspondents and mobile banking.

Payment banks cannot offer credit facilities directly, although they can act as agents of commercial banks for credit and other services.

Source: Economic Times

Special Offer from snapdeal for India Post Employees

Department of Posts has initiated action in association with Snapdeal.com to provide an online platform to benefit rural artisans and accordingly started at Varanasi w.e.f. 25.12.2014. In order to promote the sale from this portal, Snapdeal has come up with a special offer for the staff of the Postal Department.

Under this DoP employees can get attractive discount for purchase made from http://www.snapdeal.com/offers/india-post-varanasi#4thPage by using promo code

IndiaPost15.

This promo code is valid until 30.06.2015 for first 1000 redemptions for the products priced upto 20,000/- only.

Click on the image to visit the portal contains special offer for India Post Employees