Prasad takes up Post Bank and eCommerce with DoP

Communications and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Friday met senior officials of the Department of Posts (DoP) to review issues relating to setting up of Post Bank and eCommerce delivery segment.

Prasad said DoP with the world's largest postal network can make Post Bank a game-changer in the Indian banking sector as well as become a market leader in domestic eCommerce delivery segment. "Minister of Communications and IT Ravi Shankar Prasad chaired a review meeting on the issues relating to setting up of Post Bank, Mail delivery and eCommerce at Dak Bhawan, New Delhi on May 1, 2015," an official statement said.

Prasad emphasised that with a vast network of post offices at its disposal, the proposed Post Bank should become a game-changer in Indian banking sector. It should become a local agency for the recently announced MUDRA Bank, it added. "The Minister stated that Department should step up its efforts to ramp up its capabilities to book, process, transmit and deliver eCommerce articles. By doing so, DoP can easily become a market leader in domestic eCommerce delivery segment," it said. He directed senior officers in postal circles to have one-to-one meeting with eCommerce players operating in their areas to obtain their feedback about the services and undertake immediate remedial action wherever required, the statement said. While reviewing the Department's performance in eCommerce parcel delivery, Prasad appreciated the growth of over 36 per cent in parcel revenue in the last one year. 

"DoP has collected more than Rs 500 crore for COD (Cash on Delivery) articles of major eCommerce players such as Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal, Yepme, Naaptol, etc., in 2014-15," the statement added. DoP Secretary Kavery Banerjee highlighted that incidence of complaints in Speed Post was 1:10,000 and that owing to its reach, track & trace and delivery performance, Speed Post was the market leader in domestic express sector. 

The Secretary, however, assured Prasad that Department has initiated several steps to further improve mails delivery through development of road transport network, nodal mechanised delivery in larger cities and use of IT solutions for monitoring Letter Box clearance, it said. "The Minister asked for a report on action taken by the Department against erring delivery staff in the last 6 months," the 

statement added. Prasad also said that Post Bank should become a local agency for the recently announced MUDRA Bank.