Department of Posts to seek Cabinet nod for Rs 1,900 crore funds

NEW DELHI: Department of Posts has started inter-ministerial consultations for seeking Cabinet approval on around Rs 1,900 crore fund requirement to start Post Banks in the country. 

"DoP will need around Rs 1,900 crore to start Post Banks in the country. This includes Rs 500 crore paid-up capital required under new banking licence guidelines and rest is for other capital adequacy norms that Post Banks will need to fulfil. Cabinet note has gone to various ministries to seek their views," a government official told PTI. 

The Department of Posts (DoP) has plans to apply for banking licence to offer full-fledged banking services along with postal services through post offices. 

The RBI has issued comprehensive guidelines for new bank licences. It has fixed July 1 as the last date for filing application by interested entities. 

The DoP has proposed to start 50 bank branches in the first year and scale it to a total of 150 branched in 5 years. 

There are around 90,000 bank branches in the country and provision of real-time banking services through postal network is estimated to triple the current banking network. 

India Post readies plan to start bank

NEW DELHI: The Reserve Bank of India having opened the window for new bank licences, the postal department is finalizing the blueprint to set up a bank of its own at yourneighbourhood post office, a move that will challenge the dominance of large public sector lenders in smaller towns and rural India.

While the department already has a balance sheet of Rs 6.18 lakh crore, which includes deposits of around 5.5 lakh crore, it is expected to set up a new entity that will function as the bank. Transferring the existing deposit base to the bank or converting the entity into a bank will entail an initial capital base of around Rs 55,000 crore to meet RBI's requirement, which the government will find difficult to provide. So, the proposed bank will start with the minimum capital requirement of Rs 500 crore, said a source familiar with the development.

"This will benefit rural areas enormously. There are nearly 1.55 lakh post offices and no capital cost of building is required. We are connecting post offices. As it is, we are offering savings bank in post offices and this is a natural progression. The matter is under discussion with the finance ministry and RBI," communications and IT minister Kapil Sibal told TOI.

Soon, the postman will knock, tablet in hand

Very soon, your friendly neighbourhood postman will bring along a tablet computer when he knocks at your door, to carry out all transactions related to delivery of cash, banking activities and a few more.

Infosys’Vice-President and Head for India Business Raghu Cavale told Business Line that India Post is in talks with the IT major to source hardware and software for the next phase of its computerisation. This project will involve sourcing of low-cost 7-inch and 10-inch tablets and the development of apps for them. Infosys will also develop intellectual property (IP) out of its Bangalore office for these apps.

Five foreign consultants in race for ‘Post Bank of India’ project

The Department of Posts has issued request for proposals (RFP) to fivetop notch foreign consultancy firms for the proposed Post Bank of India project.

The five short-listed firms are Accenture Services, Boston Consulting Group, Ernst & Young, KPMG Advisory Services and McKinsey & Co.

The Department of Posts (DoP) is looking to set up a bank — Post Bank of India (PBI) — to provide banking services with special focus on rural areas.

LIST OF IDENTIFIED POST OFFICES FOR INSTALLATION OF ATMS UNDER CBS

Directorate has identified 1000 Post Offices all over the country for ATM implementation.

Click here to view the names of the 1000 identified post offices for installation of ATMs.
The summary of ATM locations circle wise is as follows. 

Postal dept to set up 1,000 ATMs by 2014

Hyderabad, June 5: 

The Department of Posts will be setting up about 1,000 ATMs in different parts of country by 2014, according to Ms Manjula Prasher, Secretary, Department of Posts, Government of India.

Speaking at an award-presentation ceremony of the department here on Tuesday, Ms Prasher said the department had taken up a technology-induction programme to improve the services.

India Post seeking assistance in Post Bank project

India Post is seeking a consultancy to assist it in setting up a new Post Bank of India to provide banking services with a particular focus on rural areas.

The proposal is at a conceptual stage, with the Indian government aiming to set up a new platform to provide a broader range financial services in all post offices.

Coming soon: Post Bank of India

Moving a step closer to setting up a banking business, the Department of Posts has started scouting for a consultancy firm to prepare a road map for the proposed ‘Post Bank of India’ (PBI).

The Department has already carried out a feasibility study for setting up the Post Bank of India and has invited expression on interest from consultancy firms — domestic or foreign — to finalise the plans for the bank.

The DoP, according to an official document, “intends to obtain approval from the Cabinet and licence from RBI for creation of a full-fledged bank (PBI).”

The consultancy firm will provide inputs on issues like the organisational structure of PBI, requirement of seed money and its relationship with post offices.

The proposed PBI will provide banking services, including accepting of deposits from the public for the purpose of lending or investment.

The PBI will aim to “provide banking services with special focus on rural areas...ride on the Core Banking Solution which is proposed to be provided in all the post offices.”

DEPARTMENT CALLED EOI TO CREATE POST BANK OF INDIA

Postal department invited Expression of Interest from the Bidders to submit  Detailed Project report to Create Post Bank Of India. The last date for submitting the applications are 24/05/2012 and the bids will be opened on 25/05/2012. In the tender document it is clearly mentioned the objectives for setting up the Post Bank Of India are as follows:

(i) Provide banking which means the accepting, for  the purpose of lending or investment, of deposit of money from the public, repayable on demand or otherwise, and withdrawal by Cheque, draft, order or otherwise. PBI will be engaged in various types of banking as mentioned in Section 6 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.

(ii)  Provide banking services with special focus on  rural areas.

(iii) Provide means of additional revenue generation for the DoP .

(iv) Ride on the Core Banking Solution which is proposed to be provided in all the post offices.

(v)  Provide a platform for financial inclusion.

(vi) Provide higher order value added services to over 250 Million existing Post Office Savings Bank account holders.

Postal Department Plans 1000 ATMs in six states

The Department of Post (DoP) is on a technology upgrade drive. The department plans to set up 1,000 automated teller machines (ATMs) across six states —Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu — as part of its ongoing modernisation drive, said Manjula Parasher, secretary, posts.

“We will start execution of our modern technology programme across six circles by the end of this year,” said Parasher. “This will help in people getting core banking facility etc. We plan to have 1,000 ATMs in a phased manner. The process for this will start by the year-end.”

 

Infosys, TCS, Sify ,Reliance bag Postal Department's technology projects

The Department of Post (DoP) has issued Letters of Intent (LoIs) to Infosys, TCS, Sify and Reliance Communications Infrastructure for different technology advancement projects.

"Department is trying to induct technology in a big way. There are eight RFPs (Request for Proposal) we have floated and issued Letter of Intent in five (projects) to companies which include Infosys, TCS, Sify and Reliance," Secretary (Posts) Manjula Parasher told reporters here.

Total CBS Ver 1.0/01.03.2012

Total CBS Ver 1.0/01.03.2012 (Sanchay Version)

TOTAL CBS  

(HO SANCHAY & SO SANCHAY BALANCE COMPARITION TOOL)

1. This Software aims at Total Solutions for CBS Reconciliation Work

2. Through this software Discrepency list can be generated at Head Office itself by obtaining Last Balance Report file (DAT files) from SO through e-Mails. By this,  physical movement of CBS Team members can avoided to the extent posible.  This reduces finacial incurrence in form of TA/DA.

3. Head office can have a check on SO balance whenever desired.  HO can save lot of man power and time by concentrate only on discrepent a/c.

Pre data migration activities for CBS Implementation

NISG in consultation with CEPT, Mysore has developed a CBS pre-migration monitoring website where post offices should enter data on a daily basis. The website can be accessed in the link http://www.ptcinfo.org/cbsmonitoring/LOGIN.aspx.

The data once saved cannot be edited so the user should be careful when entering the data. The user should fill data in all text boxes and successfully save the data, NULL value might cause errors.

The segments covered under monitoring are ELECTRONIC ACCOUNT DETAILS’, ‘INTEREST POSTING’, ‘MINUS BALANCE DETAILS’, DB ANALYZER and ‘SBCO OBJECTIONS’. The tolerance levels are also specified in the manual. The screenshots of the daily DB Analyzer reports from the Head Post Offices may kindly be arranged to sent to their respective RO (copy to CO)

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD CBS WEBSITE FOR PREMIGRATION-USER MANUAL