India Post launches host of services

The General Post Office in Hyderabad rolled out Core Banking Solutions (CBS) service across all its branches in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh on Thursday. The service offers postal savings account holders an umbrella of services similar to that of banks, the only exception being loans. Postal savings account holders would be able to carry out transactions at any post office networked under the CBS anywhere in the country.

• Introduces Nirantara Seva
• Has extends Ashirvachanam scheme to TS, AP temples
• Tirumala special darshan tickets would be made available online
• Has started cashless services on pilot basis

With the CBS, post offices will soon start offering a range of facilities such as ATMs, net banking and statements. 82 out of 95 Head Post Offices (HPOs) have been upgraded to the CBS platform and the remaining would implement the same by the month end.

BV Sudhakar, chief postmaster general, AP circle, said, “ATM services will begin in six months. In the Hyderabad GPO there are around 1.55 lakh accounts and around 900 transactions take place each day here.”

Nirantara Seva in AP

India Post, in association with the health department in Andhra Pradesh government, launched the Nirantara Seva service on Thursday. The postal service has provided 13 vehicles to all the districts of the State. The vehicles will transport medicine to all Primary Health Centres (PHCs) as per requirement.

“We have identified around 10 routes in each district and medicines will be transported based on the request by doctors. We believe that this service will earn a profit of around Rs 2 crore annually. This contract is valid for two years with the AP government. We have also approached the Telangana government to provide a similar service,” stated Sudhakar.

Ashirvachanam scheme extended to TS, AP temples

The Ashirvachanam scheme, which was launched in 2009 for devotees to send money orders from anywhere in the country to Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), has now been extended to temples in both the Telugu speaking states and other shrines in the country.

The service will be extended to Arasavalli temple and Sri Kurmam temple in Srikakulam, Yadagirigutta and Basara temple in Telangana, Ajmer Dargah in Rajasthan and St Infant Jesus Shrine in Chennai. “Money orders from Rs 5 - 5,000 can be sent, and devotees will receive prasadam and akshatalu. The scheme will be extended to Kanakadurga temple in Vijayawada, Dwaraka Tirumala temple in Eluru and Mantralayam temple in Kurnool,” said the chief postmaster general.

Tirumala special darshan tickets online

The bookings for special entry darshan tickets (Rs 300) of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), the service which started on Monday, can now be made availed online. The TTD has given permission to India Post to sell 5,000 tickets.“TTD tickets can also be booked online from over 90 HPOs in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. In less than a week, we have been able to sell around 2,000 tickets each day. We feel that the demand for the full quota of tickets will be fulfilled in the next 10 days. We have also proposed to the TTD that India Post can offer room bookings and special seva tickets online. The proposal is under consideration.”

Cashless service

“We are going to start cashless service on a pilot basis in 10-15 days. Anyone can swipe their debit card up to a maximum amount of Rs 1,000 at post offices where ATMs have been set up. This will be of importance in areas where there are no ATMs. We have identified 63 post offices where it will be started in collaboration with the State Bank of India,” noted Sudhakar.