HP, Infosys, TCS, Wipro in race for India Post contract

Wednesday, March 23, 2011
HP, Infosys, TCS, Wipro in race for India Post contract


Bid for implementing financial services solution

Global It giant HP is fighting it out with domestic IT services companies such as Infosys Technologies, Tata consultancy Services and Wipro for a Department of Post contract. The contract which involves Implementation of financial services solution, is one of the eight projects that the department is outsourcing as part of its IT modernisation initiative.

“Four companies have submitted commercial and financial bids and the bids are currently being evaluated. The contract seeks to provid connectively to 170000 post offices in the country for anytime, anywhere banking” sources said.


While the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs last year approved the ‘India Post 2012. IT modernisation project at an overall outlay of Rs.1,877 crore, the entire project will be implemented through eight separate contracts. However, the breakup in terms of value for individual contract could not be immediately ascertained.


According to sources, these four companies have responded to Request for Proposal by the postal department, seeking to put in place an enterprise wide financial management system for the Post Office savings bank and postal life insurance. The vendor will manage the system for five years.


Broadly, the scope of work includes supply, installation and commissioning of postal banking applications entailing core banking solution and ATM switch.


In addition to banking and insurance solution, the IT vendor would also have to install 1000 ATMs and create mobile and web based access for all users.


When contacted, the four companies refused to comment on the issue.
As part of its ambitious IT Modernisation effort, the Postal department is expected to hand out multiple contracts. The Rural ICT hardware contract involved supply and installation of rural IT hardware devices and providing network connectivity to 1.30 lakh Gramin Dak Sewak post offices enabling post offices to perform e-transactions. The rural ICT system integrator will develop the platform for all applications that will reside in the rural hand-held devices and the core system integrator will focus on all applications that will run in the post and mail offices.


Besides the financial services system integrator, other contracts include data centre facility, network integrator, mail operations hardware and change management

How to Online Post Office from India Post

                     How to Send Money Order Online ? - Procedure


Go to the Website http://www.epostoffice.gov.in/
Click on Enter (on the Glass Door !!!)
Click on Electronic Money Order Icon
Click on Book Now
If you are already registered, enter the user ID and Password.
If you are a new user, Click on New user
For registration enter the details like username, password, name , address, PIN etc.
After login click on Book Now
Remitter name will come automatically .
Fill the details of “Pay to”
Select the standard message like Money for payment of loan etc.
Select Payment mode either Debit card or Credit card.
At present only Axis Bank Cards are accepted.
Click on Confirm Payment.
The page will redirect to Banks payment page.
Enter the Card Details.
eMO will be booked after successful payment.

What are the charges for booking eMO Online ?

The Customer has to pay two types of charges for Booking eMO online.


Regular eMO Service Charge
Payment Gateway Charge.
1 Regular eMO Service Charge:
For each20 Rs Service Charge is 1 Rs. ie For 100 Rs , the Service Charge is 5 Rs only.
Complete list of Service charge for eMO


2. eMO Payment Gateway Charge.
2.0256 % of Total Money Order Amount irrespective of Credit card or Debit Card.
For eg:
If the Money Order Amount is 100 Rs, then
EMO Service Charge: 5 Rs
Payment gateway charge: 2.13 Rs
Total Amount : 100+5+2.13 = 107.13 Rs.
Benefits of Booking Money Order online
No need to go to Post Office and wait in Queue !!
Easy to use Interface.
Status of transactions can be easily tracked.
More details @ http://www.indiapost.gov.in

Article published in economics times on 7.3.2011 Regarding INDIAPOST

India Post: Even with social obligation, it could be profitable


7 Mar, 2011, 0308 hrs IST, Bhanu Pande & Souvik Sanyal, ET Bureau

For an entity that is in the delivery business, speed in decision-making is not a strength of the department of post. From idea to implementation, the department has taken 16 years to computerise and connect all its 155,000 branches; it’s taken 10 years to enter the business of managing the movement of goods for companies.

Most recently, it’s taken four years just to commission a feasibility study for its biggest transformation yet, becoming a bank.

In the last 15 years, as electronic modes of communication have trampled on physical forms, the department has tried to change, only to give into its worst self, and continue down the road of irrelevance and mounting losses. In 2009-10, it lost Rs 6,641 crore, on revenues of Rs 6,266 crore. In other words, to earn one rupee in revenues, it spent Rs 2. In 1997-98, it gave itself a new, contemporary and meaningful identity: India Post.

Except it never carried through that exercise the way it could have and it sometimes even promised to. Several global logistics powerhouses have approached it for a partnership, but are left shrugging their shoulders. “We don’t know what India Post wants,” says a senior executive of a global logistics firm that is waiting on India Post for four business proposals made to it two years ago. “Dealing with them demands a great deal of patience due to the slow decision-making.”

The ultra-slow decision-making is compounded by ultra-fast personnel movement at the top. In the last 11 years, India Post has had six chiefs. “The department is a victim of its age,” says BN Som, who headed it between 1998 and 2000. “It has failed to maintain continuity of vision under successive leadership.” A proposal in one chief’s tenure tends to lose steam in another’s.

In a world that started and ended with it, this wouldn’t be catastrophe. But in a world where it is competing against private players, and is punching below its weight, time is running out for India Post. And it doesn’t have a big plan or an overriding sense of purpose to turn this red ship around.

Radhika Doraiswamy, the current captain of the ship, is looking to technology to cut costs and push new business initiatives. “Riding on technology, we hope to become a self-sustaining organisation by 2013-14,” says the current secretary-posts & director-general of the Postal Services Board. It’s a statement that clings to hope and numbers the department has never achieved before.

John Samuel, general manager–business development, shows a growth-projection sheet that calls the department to grow at a multiple of its historic rate. For example, in the business post segment, it projects 40% a year growth till 2013-14, against 15% and 20% in the last two years, respectively.

Even the government, which makes good the department’s deficit every year, doesn’t see a turnaround. Budget 2011 has put aside Rs 5,108 crore for India Post for 2011-12. And in 2010-11, it overshot what the government had budgeted for it by 2,300 crore.

Money Disorder

About 90% of its expenses go towards salaries of its 475,000 employees in 155,000 branches. It can’t, the department says, shut down commercially unviable branches because there is an India that uses these services and can’t afford to pay commercial rates.

Conti

At one level, it’s a plausible argument. At another, it’s a fig leaf. Sure, the business of post offices is about meeting a social obligation. But though this part of the business, stamps, unregistered and registered letters, and money orders, brings in only 20% of revenues, it uses up most of the workforce. And mostly, unproductively; collectively, these employees could be doing a lot more.

The challenge for a post office is to make employees do more through businesses that have synergies with postal services, but run on commercial terms. Essentially, use the surplus in the commercial businesses to bridge the postal deficit.

Post offices around the world have branched out into logistics services, financial services and banking to turn profitable. For example, Deutsche Post in Germany, Australia Post and New Zealand Post, to name just three. It’s what India Post also has been trying to do, in fits and starts, for the last 15 years. But it has delivered either moderate successes or stillborn failures.

At about Rs 2,000 crore, the delivery business accounted for just 30% of India Post’s revenues in 2009-10. It’s had a headstart of decades in the delivery business. Its reach is a multiple of that of all private players combined. Yet, its market share in the Rs 15,000 crore domestic delivery business (letters, parcels and logistics) is just 20%. That’s partly due to its late entry and partly due to its stiffness in operations.

For example, its delivery business is sliced into three services: ordinary post, registered post and speed post. The last, speed post, is a premium service, akin to private courier. Yet, its tariff for packets weighing up to 50 gram is fixed at Rs 25, whatever the destination.

It loses out both ways. On short distances, where private players charge below Rs 25, it loses out on business. On long distances, where private players charge way above Rs 25, it loses out on revenues. “The department is plagued by its inability to comprehend that things can be achieved through a business mindset,” says SC Mahalik, who headed the department between 1994 and 1996.

Snail Mail

The eternal delay in computerisation and networking is the product of such a mindset. At present, only 8,000 of its 155,000 branches are inter-linked. The rest function as islands, hooking up only physically. It’s only last year that India Post asked Accenture to hook up all its branches and this is expected to happen by late-2012.

Even after the technology connections are finalised, employees will have to be trained. “Technology will only be productive when it is leveraged to harness its immense outreach to underserved areas, says Gautam Bhardwaj, managing director, Invest India Economic Forum, who was part of a committee on postal reforms in 2009. “Otherwise, such large infrastructure is like a hospital without patients.”

Mahalik first initiated the technology push in 1994. But he retired in 1996, and the plan went cold. Som revived it in 1998, but again it went cold. Similarly, India Post is late in the three businesses it has identified for revenue jumps to post a turnaround by 2013-14.

The big one is logistics — managing the movement of goods for companies. The idea was floated about a decade ago, but launched only in 2007-08. “Better late than never,” says Samuel. This is currently a Rs 50 crore business for India Post and it is looking to increase it to Rs 1,000 crore by 2013-14. “We hope to utilise our spare capacities and bring it to optimal levels,” says Samuel.

It has an impressive client roster: Godrej, Coca-Cola, ITC, Dalmia Cement, P&G and Cadbury, among others. For example, it distributes Godrej’s Chotu Kool refrigerator in rural Maharashtra. P&G used it to distribute products in rural Uttarakhand and Pawan Hans to ship helicopter parts. However, an official from one client told us, on conditions of anonymity, that its arrangement was only short-term.

Som is sceptical about India Post’s logistics offering. “Why should clients come to you when your means of delivery of larger consignments is the same as those for mails and letters,” he asks. “It (logistics post) is nothing but a superficial tweaking of old processes, infrastructure without building a serious expertise behind it,” adds a former India Post official. All this places a question mark on the 20-fold increase in revenues in three years the department is targeting.

The second big revenue mulitplier it is looking at is ‘global business division’, which delivers letters and goods outside India. Set up two years ago, it is a Rs 100 crore business, with a target of Rs 310 crore for 2013-14, which again means a rapid scale up. At present, the division is forging international tie-ups. “We are picking up cues from global postal services,” says Doraiswamy.

The one business that India Post has grown well is ‘business post’ — a dedicated mailing facility for corporates. So, for example, India Post picks up a company’s annual reports from the press. It has the list of the company’s shareholders and it ships the reports to them. Doing work like this, it posted revenues of Rs 721 crore in 2009-10 and expects to cross Rs 1,000 crore this year. It has about 340 points of contact, 100 of which are housed in company premises.

Revenue Stamps

Even if these initiatives grow well, they won’t erase the Rs 6,000 crore deficit. In all the transformational talk, what’s conspicuously missing are the big ideas. “The postal service has no idea of the kind of assets it is sitting on,” says Mahalik.

Like setting up a bank. By current numbers, it would have five times as many branches as SBI, the pole sitter. About 45% of India Post’s revenues already come from earning a spread on its postal savings float and from commission earned by selling small savings schemes. A bank is a natural extension. “it has the reach, but not the expertise,” says Parveen Kumar Anand, executive director, Punjab & Sind Bank.

Another example is the department’s land holdings. Besides its spacious post offices, it has about 1,800 plots, totalling about 500 acres – about one-tenth the size of Noida. “Many plots are in prime locations,” says Mahalik, who had recommended selling or leasing out this space.

Another proposal is to move its administrative offices, which are mostly in prime locations, to cheaper suburbs, as UK did. Its headquarters in Delhi, Dak Bhawan, is a six-floor, 25,000 sq m building in the heart of the capital. “It can fetch a sale value of Rs 700-800 crore or an annual rental of Rs 60-75 crore,” says the head of a real estate consultancy, not wanting to be named.

Satish Kaushal, executive director–government services, Ernst & Young, says the department needs to encourage public-private partnerships, especially for remote areas. “Revenues can be generated by asking private companies to leverage India Post’s infrastructure,” he says. “You can even develop financial solutions.”

Where’s The Postmaster?

It comes down to taking decisions, which neither the political nor the bureaucratic leadership have shown an inclination to. India Post comes under the ministry of IT & communications. “Posts is too low brow,” says Bhardwaj of IIEF. “It lacks the glamour of telecom for a minister’s consistent interest.”

A member of one of the reform committees says bureaucrats haven’t pushed enough. “There’s no financial accountability on the bureaucrat. So, nobody wants to rock the boat,” he says. Som, who has worked under two ministers, says the onus lies on the secretary. “Ministers are what bureaucrats make them,” he says. “I have always had full attention from my political bosses.”

Globally, the focal point of postal reform has been privatisation (Deutsche Post and British Post) or corporatisation (US Postal Service and Australia Post). “As of now, there’s no proposal for corporatisation,” says Doraiswamy, but she doesn’t rule it out.

A high-ranking India Post official says a mid-way model is being discussed. It envisages the department floating subsidiaries through special purpose vehicles. Each of these — for example, postal services, banking, and insurance — can function as independent business units. “They subsidiaries can generate their own funds, invite private participation, draw out their own strategy, and enjoy greater freedom,” he says.

As it waits, India Post is drifting into ignominy. Till 1985, there used to be a department of posts and telegraph. It was then split into three. Telecom regulation was given to the department of telecom, which has presided over, if not abetted, a corrupt licencing regime.

The telecom operations were hived off into a company called BSNL, which was once flourishing, but today has cash for just one more year. The postal operations were retained by the department, and it is on its way to becoming the next BSNL. Unless it takes some decisions. Quickly.

Certificate of Posting Discontinued by the Department

Department of Posts letter No 2-4/2008-PO dated 23.2.2011

To

All Chief Postmasters General,

All Posmasters General,

Director, PSCI. Ghaziabad,

Director, All Postal Training Centres,

Add. Directorate General of APS

Sub : Discontinuation of 'Certificate of Posting'

Under the provisions of Rule 195 of the India Post Office Rules, 1933 'Certificate of Posting' is granted to the public to afford an assurance that letters and other articles for which no receipts are granted by the Post Office and entrusted to servants or messengers for posting have actuall been posted.

It has since been decided that 'Certificate of Posting' may be discontinued immediately.

A copy of Gazette Notification No 58(E) dated 31.1.2011 deleting the Rule 195 of the Indian Post Office Rules, 1933 regarding 'Certificate of Posting' is enclosed for informatin and necessary action.

This may kindly be brought to the notice of all concerned for strict compliance.

The receipt of this communication may also be acknowledged.

Sd/ (NIRAJ KUMAR) Director (PO&I)

INDIA POST IN 2012

                                                          India Post - 2012


Vision
----------------------
India Post 2012 aims at transforming Department of Posts into a “Technology Enabled, Self Reliant Market Leader”. This translates into 5 initiatives covering increased market share and revenues, new products and services, improved service delivery, motivated workforce and rural development

--------------------------
Project Over View

In August 2010 Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the ‘INDIA POST 2012’ IT Modernization project with a total outlay of 1877.2 crores.As part of 11th five year plan, this IT modernization project has been undertaken in two phases. In Phase-I, post offices up to double handed levels were supplied with IT hardware and in Phase-II, the program has been built on 3 cornerstones as follows


Infrastructure – The project aims to establish Data Centre / disaster recovery centres to house all transactions and data, nationwide networking of all post offices including rural post offices, supply of computer hardware to noncomputerized post offices, mail offices and rural post offices with a vision to create a fully managed, secure and centrally governed IT



Project Implementation Structure

The IT Modernization project has been designed to be implemented in 8 contracts


Rural ICT – Hardware: This vendor will supply and install Rural ICT Hardware devices and provide for network connectivity to approximately 1.30 lakh GDS Post Offices which will enable post offices to perform all transactions electronically.


 Rural ICT – System Integrator: This vendor will develop the platform for all applications that will reside in the Rural Hand held devices.


 Data Centre Facility: This vendor will provide centralized Data Centre Facility for hosting all applications and Disaster Recovery Center.


 Core System Integrator: This vendor will be the core integrator for all the applications that will run in the post and mail offices. The vendor will deploy mail applications such as track & trace and point of sale and develop applications for all accounting modules and personnel management. The CSI will also create and manage India post website, a customer service call center and introduce eCommerce solution for Department of Posts.


 Financial Services System Integrator: This specialized vendor will cater to deployment of Postal Banking & Insurance solutions; enabling the department to perform anytime anywhere banking. The vendor will also install 1000 ATMs and create mobile and web based access for all the users.


 Network Integrator: This vendor will ensure networking of DoP’s departmental offices across India and design DoP networks including network security.


 Mail Operations Hardware: This vendor will be responsible for procurement of hardware for Postal


and Mail Processing offices such as desktop computers, printers, scanning devices/hardware and around 15,000 departmental postmen device hardware.


 Change Management Vendor: This vendor will be responsible to manage change and prepare the


staff for this massive IT modernization project of Department of Posts by conducting surveys and


understanding concerns of postal employees.



Project Over View


Software Solutions – Creation of integrated, modular software solution covering Postal operations, Banking,


Insurance, logistics, help desk and call centre. The IT project also envisages accrual based accounting and centralized payroll processing. The project will also bring in ecommerce solution enabling India Post to make all web and mobile based transactions


Change/Project Management – The IT Project mandated changes in operational procedures and processes. The Department has done a detailed business process reengineering exercise and prepared the ‘To-Be’ document for future applications. Therefore, during the implementation of the project, there would be an immense requirement of employee participation and change management activities to ensure readiness of employees to adopt the solution. The IT Project will carry out this important activity by conducting workshops, training, re-skilling for enabling change and addressing concerns and issues of employees. It will also cater to communication and awareness at regular intervals to drive change.


Solution Development Approach: The vendor once onboard will design/develop the solution across all India Post locations as per the implementation plan and will follow the approach outlined


Design Integration &



Benefits of the Project


Benefits for Customers


 Better financial inclusion for the common man in the rural and semi-urban locations at par with the urban locations, through mobile remittances, mobile banking, mobile insurance etc.


 Effective and transparent delivery of social security and employment guarantee schemes


 Increased consistency and reliability in mail, parcels and logistics delivery system in line with global standards


 Multiple channels of access to customers through post office counters, kiosks, internet, mobiles, ATMs etc.


 Better visibility of various articles in the mail stream and transparency in financial services such as banking, insurance etc. Improved customer satisfaction due to faster and more reliable services in postal, logistics, banking, insurance and retail operations


Benefits for DoP


 Significant enhancement in revenue & market shares as multitude of products will be improved and new products/ services will be launched (e.g. eGovernance, Rural ICT)


 Better decision making and operational planning due to availability of management information in a timely manner


 Potential reduction in the transaction cost and availability of manpower for redeployment in marketing and other revenue generating capabilities


 Increased productivity and accountability



Benefits for Employees


 Employees will have an opportunity to learn,build and enhance new skills and expertise


 Reduction in manual work which will result in enhanced productivity levels


 Opportunity to deliver enhanced IT enabled services to their customers leading to a significant reduction in customer complaints


 Improvement in employee engagement and empowerment


 Provide an opportunity to work in an innovation based culture


 Opportunity to be part of a growing and vibrant organization





Rural ICT and the GDS Employees


The Rural ICT solution aims to significantly improve the day to day operations performed at the Branch Post offices in the following ways:


1. All the Postal, Savings Bank, and RPLI functions would be performed through the devices; thus manual record keeping would be reduced

2. The BO Daily Accounts and BO Summary would be automatically generated and electronically sent to the accounts office/ central server

3. Specimen Signature book would be replaced by an advanced biometric method of authentication

4. All new RPLI application forms will be processed through the devices thus resulting in faster issue of policies

5. Improved disbursement of money orders at the branch post offices as a result of enhanced cash management systems

6. Utility bills like telephone, electricity, water etc. can be accepted online through the device in the future and electronic receipts can be given to the consumers

7. MGNREGS payments shall be done using the Rural ICT devices allowing the GDS Post office to validate the identity of an individual through biometric data, thus reducing verification time and avoiding unauthorized users

epost office in India Post

New look of epost office

Click here for more details

go to Link View

POSTMASTER CADRE

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZGVmYXVsdGRvbWFpbnxzYXBvc3RndWphcmF0YmxvZ3Nwb3Rjb218Z3g6MjM5NDAxOTIwOTViMTRjMAClarification regarding recruitment rules in case of Introduction of Postmaster Grade I, II & III and senior Postmaster (Gazetted Cadre) in Postal Wing.
A number of Postal circles have sought clarifications relating to the postmaster Cadre and other connected issue. The points are clarified as under.
1. Promotion to LSG cadre was being ordered at Circle office level by holding DPC and allotment was being made to divisions/ regions. The transfer liability after promotion was within the division. Now that a few posts in LSG in each division are being identified as Postmaster Grade I whether the officials are liable for transfer anywhere in the circle at the stage of initial appointment as well as on completition of tenure ?
Clarification: Postmaster Cadre Grade I has been created by carving out a certain number of LSG Sub Post offices (SOs) posts from the existing LSG (General Line) cadre, which is a circle cadre as per directorate's order No. 13-2/2010-PE.I dated 25-11-2010. As per the order , CPMG of the circles are required to identify the SOs and appoint postmaster Grade I in those SOs as per the provisions of the Recruitment rules. Postmaster Grade I being a circle Cadre, transfer liability of officials appointed against the post of postmaster Grade I is limited to only against the identified SOs. How ever, the movement of personnel in Postmaster Grade I, to the extent possible , may be within the divisions.

Download the Full Order from the below given link:

Download

POSTAL BANK

FLASH NEWS
12/02/2011
Department of post is going to launch post bank and prepaid card scheme very shortly all the regional heads of all circles have been directed to personally identify and expedite the manner of installation of ATM,s in Head post offices.

 RBI approval and License is awaited. As part of core banking process all existing accounts are now updated in computers. The circle heads are frequently stressed to complete the signature scanning of all A/c holders as early as possible. A centralized server possibly at Ghaziabad is proposed to be constituted which will automatically extract data from all HO & SO as when the counter clerk enters a transaction. The role Of SBCO will be minimized. The preservation of records at all Hos will be considerably reduced.

      Under Prepaid card scheme which is to be launched in collaboration with banks,. all expenses are to be borne by banks. Cards will be issued to customers who have Savings account only and later expanded to other customers. With help of card one can withdraw money in POs/ Any ATM/make purchase in any merchant outlets. A minimum charge will be levied for each operation. Minim um load is Rs 1000 maximum reload to card is Rs50000. Maximum withdrawal is 10000 per day and only four times can a card be used in a single given day.