Tag: India

Government to regulate courier sector, Bill likely in monsoon session

Posted by | Jun 19, 2008 | |

The government will soon amend the Indian Postal Act to bring courier companies under the ambit of this Act, a move that may hit hard the private players but could prove to be a shot in the arm for the Indian Postal Department.

According to sources, the Communication and IT Minister A Raja has given a go-ahead to the department to place the amendment in the Cabinet soon and the amended Act will be introduced in Parliament in the forthcoming Monsoon session.

If approved, this would bar the private courier service providers from carrying packets weighing below 500 grams and could give a major blow to the courier companies which earn a major share of their revenues from letter and packets weighing below half a kilogram.

However, this would also give a chance to both the parties — private courier service providers and India Post– to have business partnership with each other.

Department of Trade officials said this could prove to be a win-win situation for both parties and added that through business partnership India Post will earn more revenues to become self- sufficient.

The government said the India Post Office (Amendment) Bill is being given final touches and is likely to be introduced in the monsoon session of Parliament.

The government is also planning to bring in a regulator called the Mail Regulatory and Development Authority to monitor this sector better.

Department of Trade, which is poised for a face-lift with new schemes in its kitty, also has plans to expand its basket of financial services and may remodel some of the post offices into postal finance marts.

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India Postmaster: 'Post offices across India to be interlinked soon'

Posted by | Jun 17, 2008 | |

All the post offices across the country will be inter-linked in about a year’s time, a senior postal department officer said here on Tuesday.
Soon, the Indian Post will also function as a full-fledged banking organisation, he said, adding postal department was also considering to rent out prime spaces it had at several places for retail and other business.
Kumar said the postal department has also tied up with ‘Kerala Spices Board’ under which, one can place an order through the postal department for getting spices delivered at their doorsteps by post.
Besides, the department had also tied up with Assam tea and Tirupati prasad so that one can get these materials through post, he added.
Kumar said the department was also forging ties with telcos like BSNL, Reliance, Vodafone and Airtel to provide range of services and products like ‘Retail post’ and ‘Bill Mail Service’ verification of addresses and delivery of bills.
The post offices already distributes coins of denomination rupee one and two on the behalf of RBI, he said adding that the department was also reaching out to universities and institutions for the sale of their prospectus and other material under ‘Retail post.’

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Indian Post and Deutsche Postbank in talks

Posted by | May 30, 2008 | |

The Department of Post (DoP) said it is in talks with Deutsche Postbank to enter into housing loan business.
The Post office already have alliance with the SBI to enable people to open an account through the postal department. Moreover, education, home and personal loans can also be applied for and sanctioned from State Bank of India through the postal department.
With a huge network of more than 155,000 post offices, the DoP is also looking at tie-ups with other banks to disburse housing loans in the rural areas.
The post office, in its bid to leverage its reach had started retailing various financial products.
It has a tie-up with UTI MF, Principal PNB AMC, Prudential ICICI and SBI Mutual Fund for selling their mutual funds.
Recently, the post office has also inked a joint venture with the Centurian Bank of Punjab for business in foreign exchange.
Under the six month agreement with the Centurian Bank of Punjab for forex business, a pilot project would be launched in 31 Head Post Offices of 11 states.
Besides, the government is also using the post offices to disburse the proceedings of the National Rural Employment Guarantee (NREG) Scheme.

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Launch of protective Speed Post and Insured Post envelops

Posted by | May 30, 2008 | |

With the launch of customized protective envelop for Speed Post and Insured Post – a first in the country, India Post has moved a step further in providing customer convenience. “With the introduction of these envelopes, the Department is keen to transform itself as a customer friendly organization” said Mrs Noorjehan, Member (Operations & Marketing), Postal Services Board during the launch of the envelopes here today.
These envelopes are made of an innovative material with product qualities like water, tear, and abrasion-resistance, soft and smooth texture for excellent printability, environment-friendly and light-weight, and with customized tamper-evident features. These offer enhanced security and protection to the contents enclosed. These envelopes will be available to the customers in various Post Offices and Speed Post Centres across the country.
During 2007-08, while the express industry growth is around 20 pct, Speed Post posted an impressive growth of 29.7 pct in terms of revenue and 38% in terms of volumes. During 2007-08, the revenue from Speed Post touched 583 crores, as against Rs.449 crores in the previous year.
Recently, the Department had introduced Speed Post One India One Rate scheme. This is a novel and innovative scheme which provides customer convenience and ease. For articles weighing less than 50 grams, it costs just Rs.25 across the country and this includes service tax components also. For local delivery, it costs just Rs.12. Now, with the introduction of Speed Post envelopes, customers can buy these envelopes and send it across India under One India One Rate scheme. Each Speed Post envelope costs Rs 5.

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DHL India wins Frost & Sullivan Award

Posted by | May 29, 2008 | |

DHL India has been awarded the `Best International Logistics Service Provider’ and the `Best Brand Awareness in the Indian Logistics Industry’ for the year 2007 by Frost & Sullivan. This award is in recognition of its outstanding performance in customer experience and satisfaction for the year 2007.

Frost & Sullivan has been conducting studies on the logistics industry in India among various industry verticals to understand customer expectations with regard to their logistics service providers; also to benchmark current performance of the industry against these expectations. This year, a total of eight verticals were considered namely, Retail, Consumer Durables, Fast Moving Consumer Goods, Automotive, Automotive Components, Pharmaceuticals and Information Technology. Opinions from top industry participants from each vertical were taken into consideration.

Respondents were asked to rate each of their logistics service providers on various parameters such as general parameters, transportation, warehousing, 3PL and freight forwarding. Apart from these parameters, direct questions pertaining to brand awareness and best international service provider were asked. Best Brand Awareness and Best International Service Provider scores were based on top-of-the-mind responses for a service provider.

In both these categories, DHL topped with the highest score. The company scored on key parameters like ability to deliver on time, damage control of materials at warehouse and transit, consignment tracking facility and transparency in processes.

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