Focus of Indian Post Payments Bank is not on collection of funds but to give the public a platform for digital payments

The Indian Express
Srinath Rao
September 22, 2018

 H C Agrawal is a 1988-batch India Postal Service officer currently serving as the Chief Postmaster General, Maharashtra Circle. Prior to this, he served as the Director of the Mumbai GPO and the Deputy Director General (Aadhaar Enrolment) at the Unique Identification Authority of India, New Delhi. In an interview to Indian Express, Agrawal talks about India Post stepping into banking space and changing roles of postmen and post offices.
What was the rationale for India Post entering the payments bank space?
So far, we have been concentrating on savings banks, collecting deposits that can be used by the Government of India. But the focus of the Indian Post Payments Bank (IPPB) is not on collection of funds from the public but on giving them a platform for digital payments and to facilitate different types of payments. Apart from that, we have made more than three lakh postmen and Gramin Dak Sevaks (GDSs) available for door-step banking services in the country. While opening accounts, we give QR (Quick Response) cards to our customers that can be used at the merchants’ ends so that from one account to another account, money can be transferred. The money element is eliminated. Now, our challenge is to get as many merchants on board as possible — starting from small kirana shops to multi-level stores on board.
Earlier entrants into payments bank are not doing well so far. Is this one of the things that the Department of Posts considered before entering the sector?

I think no other payments bank will be able to provide services at the level that we provide through our GDSs and postmen. They do not have the manpower to support the service. Our postmen and GDSs, while delivering letters in their beats, will also carry out the transactions. For this purpose, the GDSs have been trained and their salary packages have also been revised to a handsome level.
What does IPPB mean for savings bank accounts?
The payments bank accounts complement the savings bank accounts. The savings bank account is on a platform where access to all ATMs is given through an ATM card and you are unable to make certain transactions through NEFT and RTGS. By opening an IPPB account, the same depositor gets access to all payment gateways through this and make bill payments through a QR card. A person having both accounts has access to channels of payment and investment. The facility you were not getting with savings accounts, we are extending through IPPB.
How has the role of a postman changed with the IPPB?
Our postmen and GDSs are very excited with the roll-out of IPPB . There is a common perception in society that the relevance of postmen is diminishing and that the number of letters are coming down. But this is a totally new area of work, which postmen have been assigned with. They are willing to learn, willing to deliver and make it successful. The success mainly depends on door-step banking. We are providing full training regarding the intricacies of the job, about behavioural aspects, how they should deal with customers and take care of many things while providing door-step banking services.
In major cities, your post offices are located in prime areas. Are there any plans to monetise those assets?
Apart from traditional post office services, we have the add-on of IPPB. We also have our Aadhaar updating and enrolment facilities. The Department of Posts also has a joint venture with the Ministry of External Affairs to run Passport Seva Kendras at post offices. So far, in Maharashtra, we have opened 14 centres on post office premises where we receive passport applications, check them, do biometrics and submit them for generation of passports. This has started in the past one year. We are planning to open more of these centres in post offices so that our postal buildings are better utilised, we get more revenue and the public benefits with easy access to passport services.
What steps have you taken to stay ahead of competition from private courier companies?
It has become a level playing field now for all operators. India Post’s performance is much better than private players and there are studies done by the Universal Postal Union and the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority, which show that our Speed Post performance is better.
In terms of steps, we provide door-step delivery. We have a system of track-and-trace where the customer can track the location of the consignment on our website. Recently, postmen have been provided with hand-held devices in which they enter the delivery information and it is updated on our central server. This is so that the senders can get information of the delivery. Customers require early delivery and information about it. So, on both these counts we are able to satisfy customers. We are also getting a lot of e-commerce parcels. They (e-commerce platforms) are choosing different players based on their performance. They have found our performance good and using our services.
Has any new technology been introduced in the department?
All post offices in Maharashtra have been put into a Wide Area Network for seamless data flow from one end to the other. As soon as information is collected from one point, it goes to our central servers, where it can be accessed by anyone, making it available for track-and-trace. In the next step, we are also going to connect our 25,000 main post offices and 1.3 lakh village-level post offices to the same network. These post offices are also being provided with a device that is connected to the main data centre. All transactions will then be available online. It is in the process and our target is to complete it by the end of this month.
How many postmen are you working with at the moment?
We have a temporary shortage of postmen because our recruitment examination had been cancelled. We are in the process of conducting a re-examination. Within two-three months, we will be able to fill the gap. In the meantime, we have a system where GDSs are working in place of postmen and in their own places, they have put some substitutes. We also have outsourced postal agents for pickups from customer premises, bringing them to post offices for booking and delivering them to supplement our postmen.
There are also regular reports of postmen not delivering letters. What measures are being taken in that regard?
We have foolproof systems of delivery and supervision over postmen while they are performing in their beats. We have a separate set of people specially trained for this job. Our public relations officers find out public opinion about postmen and check postmen in their beats. While postmen are in their outdoor duties, they are being watched and monitored and supervised through this mechanism.

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