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Turning post offices into citizen service centres

G. Rambabu

Nithya Subramanian

NEW DELHI, July 15

THE winds of change are blowing over the stodgy old post-offices across the country. Faced with a ballooning deficit and dwindling revenues, the Department of Posts (DoP) has embarked on an plan to reposition itself and induce the corporates to leverage its vast network and infrastructure.

According to Mr B.N. Som, Secretary, DoP, a programme is currently underway to transform the post offices into integrated citizen service centres -- a one-stop shop for all the citizens needs.

He told Business Line that unless the post offices keep pace with the technology-driven market initiatives, they could well bleed to death. Efforts are, therefore, being made to reposition them in the new market by adopting technology of all types.

The integrated service centre concept is one such idea that is expected to meet with a tremendous response. To start with, he said, the idea was to make post offices the collection centres for bill payments of various kinds, be it electricity bills, wate r bills, phone bills, taxes or credit card payments.

``It will be much easier for the citizen to pay all the bills at one counter across the street, rather than make umpteen trips to various offices all over the city'', he said.

He said that once the system stabilises, it will also enable all subscribers to get their bills remitted automatically as and when the post office receives them. The subscribers account will be debited, without the fear of late payments, he added.

Mr Som said that the DoP has already completed negotiations with NIIT for putting in place a computerised system for enabling it. Apart from NIIT, the Department is also trying to rope in the Department of Administrative Reforms and Pension.

As regards the investment for this project, he said that the DoP will be using the existing capacity and therefore, there would not be much cash outgo. There was no investment in hardware, only in the software and manpower capabilities, he said.

Over 2,000 post offices have already been computerised and by the end of this year, 4,000 offices will be computerised. So the system can be put in place across the country without much of an effort.

Meanwhile, the corporates are being encouraged to enter into joint ventures with the DoP to distribute their products through the postal network, he said.

The corporates have, so far, been working only from the metros and cities. Although they would like to branch out, to smaller towns, logistics prevent them from doing so. It is here that they can capitalise on the existing infrastructure of the post-offi ces and penetrate the hinterland. It makes sound business sense for them to do so, he said

It has also launched DataPost 2001 -- a computerised information system for compiling a database on households in various cities to facilitate introduction of Automatic Mail Processing Machines.

This is expected to fill the gap for a reliable source of household and business data for extensive customer outreach by firms and corporates.

Data Post is being marketed, not just as a mere commercial activity but is aimed at increasing connectivity among people especially between businesses and households. Corporates could buy their information from the DoP based on their needs, he added.