E-Post service launched in India
The Department of Posts today announced the introduction of “e-post” under which printed or even hand-written messages will be scanned at 650 designated e-post offices and transmitted as e-mail through the Internet.
The messages will be printed and enveloped at the destination centres and delivered by postmen with other ordinary letters. The cost of e-mail has been pegged at Rs. 10 a page.Besides delivering “e-post” to any postal address within the country, e-post messages can be delivered to any e-mail ID in the world. Since e-post messages are scanned and sent, they can be in any language and even hand-written. They can contain pictures and graphics and can be sent to multiple addresses.
E-post service can also be accessed from one’s home or office by purchasing a pre-paid card and sending it to the e-post portal indiapost.nic.in. The cards are of Rs.500 and Rs.1,000 denominations.
The popularity gained by a two-year pilot project in 205 post offices in five States encouraged the postal department to embark on an all-India launch, said the Postal Secretary, Vijay Bhushan.
All the 650 e-post centres had been provided with Internet connections, computers, printers and other necessary equipment. But the service was not limited to e-post offices.
All other post offices had been asked to book e-post messages and send them to the nodal e-post centre for transmission. Legally, e-post messages would be treated on a par with unregistered letters under the Indian Post Offices Act, 1898.
This step, along with several others either being implemented or in the pipeline, will make a slight dent in the postal department’s annual deficit. It has tied up with Oriental Insurance for selling its non-life products at a commission of 15 per cent, is enlisting corporate customers for speed post service and allowing its vast network to be used for bill collection for utility and service companies for a consideration.
The Government-owned National Informatics Centre (NIC) whose senior official, B. K. Goirala, was present on the occasion, developed the software for the e-post.
