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Ambar Singh Roy

KOLKATA, May 29

THE Department of Posts hopes to earn Rs 586 crore from premium services during 2002-2003. In 2001-2002, the department achieved revenues of Rs 392.65 crore, a shade lower than the targeted revenue of Rs 400 crore.

According to informed sources, the Department of Posts' aggregate revenue — including income from non-premium and non-value-added services — is expected to touch Rs 4,000 crore in the current fiscal, higher than the estimated Rs 3,400 crore earned in 2001-2002.

Informed sources told Business Line that several initiatives were being taken to ensure that a revenue growth in excess of 30 per cent from premium services during the current fiscal. The focus in this regard would veer round Speed Post services and the proposed eBill Post service.

Consequent upon the introduction of the Speed Net service, customers are themselves able to track and trace on the Internet — by logging on to www.indiapost.org — Speed Post consignments sent by them. Besides online monitoring, customers are able to obtain confirmation of delivery by e-mail as well.

Speed Post accounts for 70 per cent of the revenue generated by the department from premium services. Eighty five per cent of the department's Speed Post customers are contractual business customers. The idea now is to step up the level of personalised service to these customers even as Speed Post business offices will be opened up in all non-urban centres "where the business potential is immense".

With these initiatives, the department is hopeful of increasing its share of the express industry (read Speed Post and courier industry) from the current 11 per cent to 15 per cent by end-March 2003.

The sources said the eBill Post service that is slated for full-fledged operations by the end of the year would be a major source of revenue for the department. The software for the service has been put in place and trial runs are being conducted. When operational, customers — including those having postal savings bank accounts — can pay their bills through the postal department.

Even as efforts are on to augment revenue, steps are being taken to reduce costs and bridge the gap between revenue and expenditure. Latest technology is being deployed wherever possible towards this end. For example, money orders are now sent through VSAT instead of physical transmission. This assumes significance in view of the fact that the subsidy on account of under-pricing of money order services is a whopping Rs 320 crore annually. For registered post, the subsidy amount stands higher at Rs 390 crore every year.

In 2000-2001, only three out of the 20 different services offered by the department were able to recover costs.

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