Indian Post offices are improving – They are not only becoming high-tech, but also considerably increasing the bouquet of services they offer at their outlets. According to the statement by Mr. Sachin Pilot, Communications & IT minister, postal department has entered into agreements with 8 organizations including financial institutions to sell their products through the post offices in the country.
Post Offices in India will offer following Services
|
Sl. No. |
Name of Company / Financial Institutions |
Description of product/service |
|
1 |
Western Union Financial Services Inc. |
International Money Transfer to India |
|
2 |
MoneyGram Payment Systems Inc. |
International Money Transfer to India |
|
3 |
UTI Mutual Funds |
Sale of UTI Mutual Funds through post offices |
|
4 |
Pension Regulatory & Development Authority |
Point of Presence for National Pension Scheme accounts. |
|
5 |
India Post SBI tie-up |
Department sells assets and liability products of SBI through identified postal outlets. |
|
6 |
Ministry of Railways |
Booking/cancellation of Railway Reserved Tickets under Passenger Reservation System |
|
7 |
Reliance Money Infrastructure Limited. |
Sale of Gold Coins. |
|
8 |
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. |
Sale of Recharge Coupons, Sancharnet Cards etc. |
Regarding tie-ups with Western Union & Moneygram, it is not clear if it will allow only inward remittances or whether it will allow out ward remittances as well. According to me, one can only receive money, but because sending money requires lot of paperwork in India, it may not be possible to do it from Post Offices.
Another service that probably will help millions, especially in rural areas would be Booking / cancellation of Railway Tickets.
What do you think of these offerings by Indian Postal department ?
