Tag: India

Indian Govt Plan to Cap Foreign Investment in Courier Cos May Hit Roadblock

The government’s plan to cap foreign investment in courier companies may hit a roadblock. The commerce ministry is opposed to the foreign direct investment (FDI) related proposal in the Indian Post Office Amendment Bill, after severe opposition from industry. Commerce and industry minister Kamal Nath, who received a letter from the Investment Commission chief Ratan Tata on this issue, has decided to oppose the Bill’s intent to impose a cap on FDI in postal services. At present, there is no such cap.
Ratan Tata has requested that any move to impose limits on FDI in the postal sector must be opposed. Tata has said that a limit on FDI will not be in tune with the spirit of reform. Nath, in turn, is said to have noted that the commerce ministry must oppose this proposal too, in a reply that is now said to be with the Investment Commission.

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Overnight cargo service

Want to send a huge consignment of dress materials, vessels or truckload of cardamom? Or want to vacate your house and send your domestic articles to your new destination? All at nominal cost. If yes, contact your nearby post office because India Post, run by the Department of Posts, has entered the express cargo segment by launching Logistics Post for delivering consignments in southern districts of Tamil Nadu.

“To make India Post a one-stop source for people to send goods and parcels at a cheap tariff, India Post has introduced `overnight cargo service’ at nominal cost from November,” said K. Balasubramanian, Director, Postal Services. He said the area of coverage of the service would be between Madurai and Nagercoil, through Virudhunagar, Sattur, Kovilpatti and Tirunelveli. Every day, the service would start at 10 p.m. in Madurai and reach Nagercoil at 4.30 a.m. and vice-versa on all days except on closed holidays, he said.

As an value-added service, India Post would offer free pick up and delivery service within a radius 20 km in Madurai, 10 km in Nagercoil and 5 km in other towns, besides free loading and unloading up to 500 kg. A postal department employee would accompany the consignment.

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"Overnight cargo service" introduced

Want to send a huge consignment of dress materials, vessels or truckload of cardamom? Or want to vacate your house and send your domestic articles to your new destination? All at nominal cost. If yes, contact your nearby post office because India Post, run by the Department of Posts, has entered the express cargo segment by launching Logistics Post for delivering consignments in southern districts of Tamil Nadu.

“To make India Post a one-stop source for people to send goods and parcels at a cheap tariff, India Post has introduced `overnight cargo service’ at nominal cost from November,” said K. Balasubramanian, Director, Postal Services. He said the area of coverage of the service would be between Madurai and Nagercoil, through Virudhunagar, Sattur, Kovilpatti and Tirunelveli. Every day, the service would start at 10 p.m. in Madurai and reach Nagercoil at 4.30 a.m. and vice-versa on all days except on closed holidays, he said.

As an value-added service, India Post would offer free pick up and delivery service within a radius 20 km in Madurai, 10 km in Nagercoil and 5 km in other towns, besides free loading and unloading up to 500 kg. A postal department employee would accompany the consignment.

To compete with other express cargo services, the department would levy 50 paise to Re.1 a kg for the service. Though the minimum chargeable weight was 50 kg, no maximum weight limit had been prescribed by the department, he said and added that they had 22 vehicles to meet the needs of overnight cargo service.

The Department of Posts would tie up with private agencies, if necessary, to meet the expectations of customers for fast, safe and reliable service, he said and added that the department had also planned to introduce insurance for the consignments with Oriental Insurance.

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Post offices to turn into 'Post Banks of India'

The Centre has planned to convert post offices across the country into banks, and a bill in this regard will be introduced in Parliament in the winter session, Minister of State for Communication and Information Technology Shakeel Ahmad today said.

Apart from functioning as a post office, it will also have full-fledged banking facilities, Ahmed explained to reporters, saying it will be known as the ‘Post Bank of India’.

The minister said a bill seeking amendment to the Postal Act of 1898 for the purpose will be introduced in Parliament in the coming session.

Ahmad, the Congress MP from Madhubani in Bihar, said that the number of post offices in the country was almost double that of all branches of banks taken together and more post offices would be opened in the 11th Five Year Plan.

Ahmad said the postal department will organise big programme at Motihari in December on the centenary of Mahatama Gandhi’s journey to South Africa

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India Post plans diversification

The neighbourhood post office will soon turn into a one-stop-shop for making all your routine bill payments – including service tax and road tax. That’s not all. India Post will soon also be the access point for availing Right to Information services and getting registered on the electoral rolls.

Fresh from the success – both in terms of turnout and financial gains – of being a collection point for filing income tax returns, India Post intends to look beyond just postal services to shore up revenues. India Post, officials say, is in talks to conclude agreements with the Centre, state governments, NGOs and even a corporate entity, to facilitate access to information and offer all kinds of services to citizens all over the country.

“Under the proposed business model, while India Post will provide space for such service centres through its network of 1,55,566 post offices spread across the country, NGOs or private players will provide hardware and uninterrupted connectivity and the state governments will ensure that citizens can avail majority of services at these outlets,” says department of posts GM (marketing) RRP Singh.

India Post expects these services to account for nearly 20-30% of its profits. “This could even go up to over 40% depending on size of the corporate entity availing postal department’s network to serve its customers,” he adds.

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