THE MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
(SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)
(a) Yes, Madam
(b) The Post Offices are functioning as multi facility provider unit as various services and products are made available for the benefit of the customers. The details of some of the facilities are as below:-
(i) Core Banking Solutions:-
Department of Posts is implementing Core Banking Solution (CBS) in all departmental post offices as part of the IT Modernization Project that aims to bring in various IT solutions with the required IT infrastructure to the post offices. This includes provision of ATM facility also for POSB customers. As of now CBS has been implemented in 19417 post offices and 652 ATMs have been installed at major post offices across the country. All Small Savings Schemes are available to the customers in all CBS Post Offices. DoP has issued 133486 ATM/Debit cards to POSB customers. Circle wise detail of number of CBS Post Offices and ATMs is as given in Annexure-A.
(ii) Money Transfer:-
DoP is already providing domestic money remittance service like Electronic Money Order, Instant Money Order and Mobile Money Order. In addition to domestic money remittance services DoP is also providing Inward International Money Transfer Services in association with Western Union (through 9943 post offices) and Money Gram (through 6135 post offices).
(iii) Foreign Exchange:-
The Department of Posts has got Authorized Dealer Category – II (AD Category – II) license from Reserve Bank of India for doing foreign exchange business. For this purpose, RBI has approved 1000 locations (Post Offices) across the country.
(iv) Premium Services:-
In addition to the traditional Mail Products transmission Department of Posts also provides a number of premium services like Speed Post, Express Parcel, Business Parcel, Logistics Posts, Retail Post, E Post etc. to generate additional revenue for the Department.
(c) Yes Madam. Government has introduced several financial services in Post offices in both Urban and Rural areas.
(i) The following Savings Schemes are available in post offices :-
1) Savings Bank Account,
2) Recurring Deposit Account,
3) Term Deposit Account (1, 2, 3 and 5 years),
4) Monthly Income Scheme Account,
5) Senior Citizen Savings Scheme Account,
6) Public Provident Fund Account,
7) 5 Years National Savings Certificates,
8) Kisan Vikas Patra
9) Sukanya Samriddhi Account
All the above schemes are available in Head Post Offices and Sub Post Offices. The Branch Post Offices are offering the schemes mentioned at Serial numbers 1, 2, 3 and 9 only. The state-wise list of Post Offices is enclosed (Annexure-B).
(ii) Three Jan Suraksha Schemes, namely Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY), Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) and Atal Pension Yojana (APY) have also been introduced in CBS post offices, in 2015.
(iii) Life Insurance facility is being provided through urban and rural post offices. Different plans under Postal Life Insurance (PLI) and Rural Postal Life Insurance (RPLI) are as follows:-
Name of Scheme PLI RPLI
Whole Life Assurance Suraksha Gram Suraksha
Convertible Whole Life Assurance Suvidha Gram Suvidha
Endowment Assurance Santosh Gram Santosh
Anticipated Endowment Assurance Sumangal Gram Sumangal
Joint Life Assurance Yugal Suraksha NA
Children’s Policy Bal Jiwan Bima Gram Bal Jiwan Bima
10 Years RPLI NA Gram Priya
(d) The Department of Posts is seeking approval of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) for setting up of the India Post Payments Bank (IPPB). The Public Investment Board (PIB) has already approved and recommended the proposal for consideration of CCEA.
The India Post Payments Bank is likely to drive the benefits of financial inclusion by bringing various financial products to suit the needs of different strata of society with special focus on the marginalized sections and citizens in rural areas. The following services are likely to be provided:-
(i) Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT) of social security payments of various Ministries,
(ii) Utility bill payments for electricity, water, telephone, gas etc.,
(iii) Payments of various Central and State Govt. & Municipal dues and fees of various Universities/ Educational Institutions
(iv) Person to person remittances both domestic and cross-border- special focus will be on providing, economical, safe and convenient money transfer facilities to migrant labourers, NRIs remitting money to relatives, institutions etc.
(v) Demand Deposits (Current Account and Savings Account)- with special focus on MSMEs, small entrepreneurs, Village Panchayats & SHGs
(vi) Distribution of third party financial products such as Insurance (health & general), Mutual Funds and Pension products
(vii) Access to formal credit products by acting as Banking Correspondent of banks & MFIs
Along with the constant in-service training provided by the Department to its employees, a series of training programmes for employee at all levels are likely to be organized to prepare them for smooth delivery of services by the India Post Payments Bank.
(e) The details of debit cards issued by the post offices to post office account holders (State Wise) is as under:-
<pre>
S.No. State No. of Debit Cards issued to POSB Customers
1 ANDHRA PRADESH 9077
2 ARUNACHAL PRADESH 0
3 ASSAM 2908
4 BIHAR 4421
5 CHATTISGARH 2274
6 DELHI 5755
7 GOA 90
8 GUJARAT 4307
9 HARYANA 2611
10 HIMACHAL PRADESH 1547
11 JAMMU & KASHMIR 19
12 JHARKHAND 1939
13 KARNATAKA 10865
14 KERALA 569
15 MADHYA PRADESH 9612
16 MAHARASHTRA 15384
17 MANIPUR 0
18 MEGHALAYA 403
19 MIZORAM 0
20 NAGALAND 0
21 ORISSA 3934
22 PUNJAB 3234
23 RAJASTHAN 10582
24 TAMILNADU 26735
25 TELANGANA 6986
26 TRIPURA 0
27 UTTAR PRADESH 7889
28 UTTRAKHAND 522
29 WEST BENGAL 1823
TOTAL 133486
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