AP Circle JCA letter to CPMG

ALL INDIA POSTAL EMPLOYEES GROUP-C (NFPE)

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF POSTAL EMPLOYEES GROUP-C (FNPO)

No. JCA/CBS/Mc.Camish/3/2016                                                                Dated 28.03.2016

To

The Chief Postmaster General

A.P.Circle

Hyderabad-500001

Respected Sir,

Sub: -   Problems faced by the staff - Consequent up on implementation of CBS and Mc.Camish in the post offices-Reg

           

            We are expressing our deep concern on the problem faced by the staff, consequent up on implementation of CBS and Mc.Camish in the post office. Time and again we were brought the issues to your kind notice for needy action through letters and emails. But to our dismay, there is no co-operation from the official side to resolve the issues within the reasonable time. Though the Directorate has been issued orders two months back for increasing of band width of post offices, the same is not increased so far. The staff at the counters are suffering like anything besides facing mental agony due to non connectivity to the server. Every day the problem is same but no solution and employees are forced to stay in the office beyond their normal working hours to close the day’s account.

            Therefore, we request you to immediate intervention in to the matter and resolve the issues raised by the unions on the subject immediately. If the problem is not resolved immediately, we have left no other option but to proceed on trade union action to settle the issues. 

Yours faithfully

DASV Prasad                                                                  V.Sivaji

  Circle Secretary (AIPEU Group-C)                          Circle Secretary (NAPE Group-C)

Declaration of Assets and Liabilities by Public Servants under section 44 of the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013 - Filling of Returns by public servants on or before 15th April, 2016

i.The first return as on 1st August, 2014 under the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013 should be filed on or before the 15th April, 2016.

ii. The next return as on 31st March, 2015, under the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013 should be filed on or before the 15th April, 2016. 

iii. The annual return as on 31st March, 2016 under the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013 should be filed on or before 31st July, 2016.

iv.The annual return for subsequent years as on 31st March every year should be filed on or before 31st July of that year.  

Click here to view the DoPT OM dated 28.03.2016 on the above subject matter.

Meeting with Member Technology by SG FNPO

Respected sir,

Kindly recall our discussion yesterday on CBS related issues.

While thanking for your reply through eMail, we discussed the remedies suggested therein with the field workers.

Based upon the feedback, we seek your clarification whether the two Servers assured to be installed on 01.04.2016 is going to be exclusively for Finacle/Mccamish or for RICT scheduled to be launched from the same day.

Thanking you,

D.Theagarajan

Directorate clarified that two servers to be installed on01/04/2016 is for Finacle/Mccamish not for RICT.

   SG FNPO met Member (P) and DDG SR more details pulished in our sentinel .

Revised document sending procedure to CPC w.e.f.01.04.2016

All CBS Sub offices has to send the KYC application form ( Single sheet) to concerned HO only day-to- day basis One official should identify @ HO to scrutinize the all KYC application forms received from Sub offices and if there are any omissions in KYC application forms the same should be return to Sub offices in SO bags for wanting of omissions. If KYC forms are in order, then all the KYC forms of sub offices along with the KYC forms of Head Office should be sent to CPC (CBS) in one cover/bag by registered post on daily basis w.e.f 01.04.2016

The following points should observe while scrutiny the documents at HO level.

Declaration of Assets and Liabilities by Public Servants under section 44 of the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013 - Filling of Returns by public servants on or before 15th April, 2016 - regarding.

To view please Click Here.

i.The first return as on 1st August, 2014 under the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013 should be filed on or before the 15th April, 2016.

ii. The next return as on 31st March, 2015, under the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013 should be filed on or before the 15th April, 2016. 

iii. The annual return as on 31st March, 2016 under the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013 should be filed on or before 31st July, 2016.

iv.The annual return for subsequent years as on 31st March every year should be filed on or before 31st July of that year.  

APPEAL TO CIRCLE/DIVISION/BRANCH SECRETARIES from SG FNPO

It is learnt from Directorate that they called for the reports from the Circles about Finacle and Meccamish issues some of the Circles sent D.O. letters to the Directorate explaining the ground reality. Let us hope Department will find the solution. If not our federation will discuss the issue with NFPE and appropriate decision will be taken to find the solution, till such time our cadres are requested not to resort any local agitations.

D.Theagarajan S.G. FNPO

Letter to Secretary Dept. of Posts from SG FNPO on CBS problems

secretary-posts@indiapost.gov.in; membertech@indiapost.gov.in;  

To 
Mrs. Kaveri Banerji, 
Chairperson, Postal Board, 
Department of Posts, India, 
Dak Bhavan, New Delhi 110001. 
Respected Madam, 
I am extremely sorry to disturb you on the auspicious day of Holi. But, situation compelled me to write this few lines for your kind consideration. 
The officials working in Post Offices are making numerous issues relating to Finacle/Maccamish. 
This was not solved by your office despite of our favorable discussion and writings. 
Members have suggested the following:- 
(i) Work to Rule in the Post Offices. 
(ii) Leave the Post Offices by the closing hours as it is or 
(iii) Strike. 
My Federation is of no other alternate except abide the justified and overdue wishes of members. 
Kindly intervene otherwise spontaneous strike is unavoidable beyond our control over the cadres.  . 
Thanking you, 
Yours sincerely, 
[D.Theagarajan] 

SGFNPO

Copy to:CPMG Andhra Pradesh Circle; CPMG Assam Circle; CPMG Bihar Circle; CPMG Chhattisgarh Circle; CPMG Delhi Circle; CPMG Gujarat Circle; CPMG Haryana Circle; CPMG Himachal Pradesh Circle; CPMG Jammu & Kashmir Circle; CPMG Jharkhand Circle; CPMG Karnataka Circle; CPMG Kerala Circle; CPMG Madhya Pradesh Circle; CPMG Maharashtra Circle; CPMG North East Circle; CPMG Orissa Circle; CPMG Punjab Circle; CPMG Rajasthan Circle; CPMG Tamilnadu Circle; CPMG Uttar Pradesh Circle; CPMG Uttarakhand Circle; CPMG West Bengal Circle

5 Year Post office Time Deposit is eligible for Income Tax rebate under 80C Investment made in "five year time deposit

Investment made in "five year time deposit in an account under Post Office Time Deposit Rules, 1981" will be eligible for deduction from the Gross total income, under section 80C, with the overall section treshold of 1 Lakh.

The additional point to be noted is "The amendment shall apply to investments, as above, made during the financial year 2007-08 and subsequent years."

Below is the summary of the Finance bill presented in the budget:

Enlargement of the scope of eligible saving instruments under section 80C

Section 80C of the Income-tax Act provides for a deduction of upto rupees one lakh to an individual or a Hindu undivided family (HUF) for,-

(i) making investments in certain saving instruments; or

(ii) incurring expenditure on tuition fee and repayment of housing loan.

With a view to encourage small savings, it is proposed to enlarge the scope of eligible saving instruments by inserting two new clauses in sub-section (2) of section 80C. The following investments made by the assessee, during the previous year, shall be eligible for deduction under section 80C within the overall ceiling of rupees one lakh:-

(i) five year time deposit in an account under Post Office Time Deposit Rules, 1981; and

(ii) deposit in an account under the Senior Citizens Savings Scheme Rules, 2004.

Further, it is also proposed to provide that where any amount is withdrawn by the assessee from such account before the expiry of a period of 5 years from the date of its deposit, the amount so withdrawn shall be deemed to be income of the assessee of the previous year in which the amount is withdrawn. The amount so withdrawn, accordingly, shall be liable to tax in the assessment year relevant to such previous year. The amount liable to tax shall also include that part of the amount withdrawn which represents interest

accrued on the deposit. However if any part of the amount so received or withdrawn (including the amount relating to interest) has suffered taxation in any of the earlier years, such amount shall not be taxed again.

CG Employees Have Begun The Countdown For The Centre To Notify Implementation Of 7th CPC Recommendations

“As per the reports received, the 7th Pay Commission Pay recommendations may be notified in June after the model code of conduct of states polls which in place is in place till 21st May 2016, said , P.S.Prasad General Secretary, Confederation of Central Government Employees and Workers Karnataka State.

The Staff side JCM in its two round of meetings with the Empowered Committee of Secretaries had demanded major changes in the 7th CPC recommendations, especially on the minimum wage, fitment formula, pay matrix and allowances.

Prasad added that the Empowered Committee of Secretaries may call the staff side JCM for more discussions, if the talks fail then the Central Government Employees should prepare for the indefinite strike from July 11 for which the staff side JCM has already given the call.

Earlier the employees federation had planned to go on strike from April 11, but due to the timing of the state assembly elections and implementation of ongoing model code of conduct, the federation decided that the employees would go on indefinite strike from July 11.

Once the implementation cell of the Empowered Committee of Secretaries gives final touch to the report, its recommendations will be send to the Prime Minister’s Office for nod. Subsequent to which the report will be placed before the Cabinet for approval. The entire process is expected to take another three months.

Source : Zee News

Dearness allowance hiked by 6%, to benefit 1 crore employees, pensioners

On the eve of Holi festival, the government today hiked dearness allowance(DA) by 6 per cent, benefiting over 1 crore central government employees and pensioners. 

The hike, which will cost the exchequer an additional Rs 14,724.74 crore annually, will take effect from January 1, 2016, Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters after the meeting of the Union Cabinet which took the decision. 

The burden on exchequer would be Rs 6,795.5 core towards central government employees and Rs 7,929.24 crore towards pensioners during 2016-17, he said. 

The DA, which will benefit, 50 lakh central government employees and 58 lakh pensioners, will go up from the existing 119 per cent to 125 per cent. 

Dearness allowance is paid as a portion of basic pay of employees to neutralise the impact of inflation. Pensioners get dearness relief. 

The central government revises DA twice in a year on the basis of one year average of retail inflation for industrial workers as per a pre-determined formula. 

In September last year, DA was increased to 119 per cent from 113 per cent with effect from July 1, 2015. 

In April last year, the government had hiked DA by 6 percentage points to 113 per cent of the basic pay with effect from January 1, 2015.

Source:-The Economic Times

HOLI a colour full festival

Declaration of Holiday on 14th April, 2016 - Birthday of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar

Click here to view Department of Personnel & Training OM dated 21.03.2016 on the above subject matter.

CCS ( Leave Travel Concession ) Rules, 1988 - Fulfillment of Procedural Requirements

Click here to view Department of Posts (Establishment Division / PAP Section) Letter No.20-5/2013-PA dated 7-3-2016.

Digital India summit: Post offices pip SBI to have largest core banking footprint, says Ravi Shankar Prasad

Listing out the achievements of the Government as it looks to complete two years in power, Minister for Communication and Information Technology, Ravi Shankar Prasad today said during his tenure and because of a sustained push, 20494 post offices have been connected under core banking solution, which is more than the 16333 enabled core bankingbranches of State Bank of India ( SBI). 

Atal Pension Yojana (APY) amended to give an option to the spouse to continue to contribute for balance period on premature death of the subscriber

Press Information Bureau 

Government of India

Ministry of Finance

22-March-2016 13:58 IST

Atal Pension Yojana (APY) amended to give an option to the spouse to continue to contribute for balance period on premature death of the subscriber; 

After the death of both the subscriber and the spouse, the nominee of the subscriber shall be entitled to receive the pension wealth, as accumulated till age of 60 years of the subscriber.

The feedback received from various quarters has indicated that the present provision under Atal Pension Yojana (APY) of handing-over lump sum amount to spouse on premature death of the subscriber is not preferred by many subscribers. It has also highlighted the fact that there is growing demand to give an option to the spouse to continue contribution after the death of subscriber to enable him / her to draw pension when the deceased subscriber would have turned 60 years of age. Therefore, after considering the feedback, the Government has decided to give an option to the spouse of the subscriber to continue contributing to APY account of the subscriber, for the remaining vesting period, till the original subscriber would have attained the age of 60 years instead of present provision of handing-over lump-sum amount to spouse on the premature death (death before 60 years of age) of the subscriber. The spouse of the subscriber shall be entitled to receive the same pension amount as that of the subscriber until the death of the spouse. After the death of both the subscriber and the spouse, the nominee of the subscriber shall be entitled to receive the pension wealth, as accumulated till age of 60 years of the subscriber.

Earlier to address the longevity risks among the workers in unorganised sector and to encourage the workers in unorganised sector to voluntarily save for their retirement, the Government had launched a new initiative called Atal Pension Yojana (APY) with effect from 1st June, 2015. Under APY, each subscriber, on completion of 60 years of age, will get the guaranteed minimum monthly pension, or higher monthly pension, if the investment returns are higher than the assumed returns for minimum guaranteed pension, over the period of contribution. After the subscriber’s death, the spouse of the subscriber shall be entitled to receive the same pension amount as that of the subscriber until the death of the spouse. After the death of both the subscriber and the spouse, the nominee of the subscriber shall be entitled to receive the pension wealth, as accumulated till age of 60 years of the subscriber. In exceptional circumstances, that is, in the event of the death of beneficiary or specified illness, as mentioned in the PFRDA (Exit and withdrawals under the National Pension System) Regulations, 2015, before the age of 60 years, the accumulated pension wealth till date would be given to the nominee or the subscriber as the case may be.

7th Pay commission: Good news! Modi Govt likely to pay 'increased salary', arrears in July

 This will definitely make Central government employees happy. Reportedly, Centre will start paying 'increased salary' to Government staff from the month of July. Sources say that Government will also pay six months' arrears along with the increment.

 It is being said that Government wants to complete all the formalities regarding the implementation of Sevent pay Commission till the end of the State Assembly elections. Report say that this time Government will follow pay-fixation method while giving increment to 48 lakh employees and 52 lakh pensioners.

Pay Commission in its recommendations had suggested pay-fixation method instead of pay grade. A Finance Ministry sources was quoted by a online website as saying, "We're at the final stage for issuing the notification and 3-4 more months will be required to implement, so we hopefully say that they will get new pay and arrears in the July".

 It is being believed that due to model code of conduct in place till May 21, Government will issue notification regarding pay commission in the month of June.

Elections in five states-Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam, Kerala and Puducherry is scheduled from April 4. State polls will be continued till May 16. Sources say that Modi Government doesn't want to sully its image by announcing any such decision during the poll period.

At the same time, Centre also doesn't want to give Opposition extra ammo to attack it during the election time. OneIndia News

Read more at: http://www.oneindia.com/india/7th-pay-commission-modi-govt-to-pay-increment-arrears-july-report-2047641.html

Metting with Postmaster General and DPS of Kurnool Region on 21.3.2016

           On 21.3.2016 Circle Secretary met PMG and DPS kurnool Region with Sri D.Theyagarajan, SG FNPO,    Sri D.Kishanrao GS NAPE Gr C CHQ, Sri Chakrapani R 3 CS, Sri R.Sudhakar Circle President, Sri PS David Raj, RR Kurnool Region and Sri Maddiletireddy CWC Member. Many issues like CBS, Mc Camish, Rule-38 transfers, GDS rule3 transfers and other problems discussed with positive result. 

It may take some time to decide on 7th CPC Recommendations : Empowered Committee

Minutes Of The 2nd Meeting Of Empowered Committee Of Secretaries (E-CoS)

Venue: Committee Room, Cabinet Secretariat, Rashtrapati BhawanDate of Meeting: Thursday, the 1 st March, 2016Time of Meeting: 6:45 PM

Members of E-CoS present

1 Cabinet Secretary

2. Chairman, Railway Board

3. Home Secretary

4 Defence Secretary

5 Secretary, D/o Science & Technology

6. Secretary, D/o Personnel & Training

7. Secretary, M/o Health & Family-Welfare

8. Secretary, D/o Pension and Pensioner’s Welfare

9. Secretary (Security), Cabinet Secretariat

10. Secretary, D/o Posts

1 1 . Deputy Comptroller and Auditor General

Secretariat for E-CoS:

1. Jöint Secretary, Implementation Cell, D/o Expenditure

2. Director, Implementation Cell, D/o Expenditure

Representatives of JCM (Staff-side):

1 . Shri Shiv Gopal Mishra

2. Shri M. Raghavaiah

3. Shri Rakhal Das Gupta

4. Shri Ch. Sankara Rao

5. Shri J.R. Bhosle

6. Shri Guman Singh

7. Shri R.P. Bhatnagar

8. Shri K.S. Murty

9. Shri K.K.N. Kutty

10. Shri C. Srikumar

11 . Shri R. Srinivasan

12. Shri M. Krishnan

13. Shri M.s. Raja

Subject: Implementation of the recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission — 2nd meeting of the E-CoS

A meeting of the Empowered Committee of Secretaries (E-CoS) was held on 1 st March, 2016 in the Cabinet Secretariat under the chairmanship of the Cabinet Secretary to discuss issues raised by Staff„side of JCM

2. Welcoming the members of E-CoS and JCM Staffrside, Cabinet Secretary observed that the meeting had been called to take a note of concerns of Stäff-$ide of JCM regarding recommendations of the 7th CPC and invited the members Of Staff-side of JCM to share their views on the recommendations.

3. Opening the discussion, representative of Staff-side of JCM expressed gratitude to Cabinet Secretary for inviting them for interaction regarding the recommendations of the 7th CPC and requested that more frequent interactions of JCM may be held to resolve outstanding issues across the table. It was expressed that 7th CPC has recommended a meager increase of 14% in the minimum pay as against increase ranging up to 54% during previous Pay Commissions. It was further stated that the recommendations on minimum pay, allowances, advances etc. will cause difficulty to employees. Representative of Staff-side informed that they have already submitted a charter of demands to the Cabinet Secretary bringing out the issues. These have also been discussed in the meeting of JS (IC) with Staff-side of JCM held on 19.02.2016.

4. Major concerns expressed by JCM Staff-side were as under:

The minimum pay of Rs. 18000/- p.m. recommended by the Commission is on lower side and needs to be revised upward by taking into account the prices of commodities as on 01.07.2015 and appropriately factoring in for social obligations & housing.

(ii) New Pension Scheme should be done away with. Persons governed by the NPS are deprived of Family Pension and do not have provision of provident fund. As a result they are at a disadvantageous position as compared to the persons governed by the old system.

(iii) Recommendations on allowances need to be properly examined before taking a decision.

(iv) Fixed Medical Allowance should be increased from existing Rs. 500 p.m. to Rs. 2000 p.m. as majority of cities are not covered under CGI-IS and people residing outside the CGHS covered area are unable to meet their medical needs with meager amount of Rs. 500 p.m.

(v) Recommendation regarding withdrawal of non•interest bearing advances may not be accepted.

(vi) Outsourcing of services should be discouraged as the contract workers are being exploited by contractors and at the game time the service delivery is being compromised due to inefficiency and lack of accountability of low aid contractual staff.

(vii) Enhancement in contribution towards Group Insurance Scheme, is not justified as this would reduce the actual increase in take home salary considerably. If the rates are to be raised, the Government should bear the insurance premium

(viii) The recommendation regarding grant of only 80% of salary for the second year of Child Care Leave need not be accepted as this would deter women from availing of CCL, which was introduced as a welfare measure.

(ix) Annual increments be granted @ 5% instead of existing 3% and increments may be granted on two dates viz., 1 st of January and 1 st of July of every year as in the present system of grant of increment on 1 st July of every year, employees joining/promoted after 1 st January, who do not complete 6 months services as on 1 st July, have to wait for up to 18 months for grant of increment.

(x) The Commission’s recommendation of downgrading the Assistants of Central Secretariat for bringing in parity with their counterparts in the field offices is not appropriate.

(xi) Recommendation regarding PRIS need not be accepted as no scientific mechanism has been devised to assess the performance of employees and the same could e courage favoritism.

5. Issues regarding financ al upgradation under MACPS in promotional hierarchy without grading stipulation. grant of two increments on promotion introduction of Productivity Linked Bonus, treating Grameen Dak Sevak as Government employees, removal of pap of 5% on compassionate appointment 8i full pay and allowances In case of Work Related Illness and Injury Leave improving promotional avenues for technical and supervisory staff etc. were also raised by members of JCM.

6. During the discussion, representatives of JCM also suggested that the Nodal Officers nominated by various Ministries/Departments may hold interactions with recognized Staff Associations and other stakeholders under their purview so as to identify issues specific to those Ministries/Departments for redressal.

7. After hearing the participants, Cabinet Secretary observed that the deliberations have helped E-CoS in understanding the major concerns of the Staff-side and said that all issues have been taken note of. He assured that fair consideration will be given to all points brought out by JCM before taking a final view. He further stated that the E-CoS needs to examine the Report of the Commission in entirety as well as the issues raised by JCM in consultation with all other stakeholders. As such, it may take some time to take a final call on the recommendations of the Commission.

8. Cabinet Secretary also advised the members of E-CoS to hold interactions with their Staff Associations and other stakeholders under their purview preferably within a week.

9. Meeting ended with vote of thanks to the chair.

Source :  Indwf.blogspot.in

Revision of Interest rates for Post office Savings Schemes

7th Pay Commission notification to be issued after states polls

New Delhi: The notification to put into effect the Seventh pay commission recommendation will be issued after the completion of states assemblies’ poll process as the model code of conduct is currently in place, sources of Finance Ministry said on Wednesday.

The assemblies’ election of Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam, Kerala and Puducherry states, which will be held from April 4 to May 16 and the counting of votes in the states will take place on May 19 but the model code of conduct will remain in place till May 21.

So, it is believed that the government will announce Seventh pay commission award after the end of model code of conduct of states assemblies election.

The government doesn’t want to give any chance to the Opposition to deter its image in the polls and hence, sources, said that the announcement of the dates of the the model code of conduct of states polls seems to be the cut-off point for notification of the Seventh pay commission award.

The Seventh pay commission recommendations will benefit 48 lakh central government employees and 52 lakh pensioners including dependents.

“The BJP led central government decided execution time of the pay commission’s proposals in April but the Empowered Committee of Secretaries headed by cabinet Secretary can’t sort out some anomalies of Seventh pay commission recommendations like scrapping of advances, allowances and minimum pay before declaration of states Assemblies polls,” sources said.

Sources also said the Implementation cell of the Empowered Committee of Secretaries for the Seventh pay commission recommendation in Finance Ministry works hard to send a summary of the pay commission implementation to PMO for its nod. After PMO’s nod, it would be placed before the cabinet for its nod through cabinet secretary.

Sources said the Seventh Pay Commission recommendations implementation notification will be issued in June, after cabinet nod.

The Seventh Pay Commission was set up by the UPA government in February 2014, The Commission headed by Justice A K Mathur submitted its 900-page final report to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on February 19, recommending 23.55 per cent hike in salaries and allowances of Central government employees and pensioners.

The panel recommended a 14.27 per cent increase in basic pay, the lowest in 70 years. The previous 6th Pay Commission had recommended a 20 per cent hike, which the government doubled while implementing it in 2008.

The Seventh pay commission recommended fixing the highest basic salary at Rs 250,000 and the lowest at Rs 18,000and its increased the pay gap between the minimum and maximum from existing 1:12 to 1: 13.8

The government constitutes the Pay Commission almost every 10 years to revise the pay scale of its employees and pensioners, often these are adopted by states after some modifications. However, the Seventh Pay Commission suggested to discontinue the practice of appointing pay commissions in future.

Read at The Sen Times (TST)

India Post Is Grappling With E-Tail Shift : Mrs 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, tellsMansi 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