India post starts to offer new services

India post will soon be providing ATM services in post offices, acquire aircraft to improve cargo services and will also provide money transfer at doorstep facility.
India post has signed an agreement with Eurogiro, a global network of banks and financial institutions, for direct money remittance through post offices. Indians working abroad will soon be able to send cash directly to their relatives at their doorsteps through the widespread postal network. “The department of posts will soon join the Eurogiro remittance network, allowing its customers to receive and send money on a par with the best banks in the world,” an official in the Ministry of Communications and IT said to Economic times. Under the proposed scheme, the payment will be made at the doorstep of the beneficiary, as against the existing practice followed by banks and other institutions asking them to come to their offices to collect the payment.

As per World Bank estimates, India received remittances worth $52 billion in 2008 as compared to $38.7 billion in 2007. In its annual report of 2008-09, the RBI said the global economic downturn had not dampened the flow of remittance to India.

Radhika Doraiswamy, Secretary (Posts), Government of India, said that starting October 1, funds collected under Postal Life Insurance (PLI) would remain with India post and would not be moved to the Ministry of Finance like earlier. This fund will be invested in the market, as directed by a board constituted to take care of the safety of public money. State Bank of India and UTI Bank have been appointed fund managers, added Doraiswamy.

Also, many Indian post offices will soon have ATM installed. The department had appointed Accenture to provide technology solutions. The ATM service will be available in seven post offices in six cities in Karnataka in the first phase of implementation, including two in Bangalore.