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POST India Post: Thinking Out Of The Box The Indian postal department hopes to wipe out its huge losses in five years by offering consumers a host of technology-backed value-added services. By Moinak Mitra
No it's, hold your breath, India Post. Banish from your mind images of a satchel-slung guy in uniform trudging up to your doorstep. The ubiquitous dakiya will still be around, but if things pan out, the country's 1.55 lakh-odd post offices will never be the same again. Boosted by generous doses of technology and marketing, the Indian postal system will play host to a range of spiffy financial and business products. As John Samuel, Additional General Manager, Department of Posts, Business Development Directorate puts it, India Post is adopting ''the marketing outlook''.
To be sure, the Indian postal service has been trying to get into that mode for some years now. The first hints of the overhaul were witnessed in 1994, when S.C. Mahalik, the then Director General (DG) coined the ''We Must Change'' slogan. But once he retired, that mantra was forgotten, only to be revived once again when the current dg, B.N. Som, took over the reins in 1996. Now close to retirement, this former history student from Presidency College, Kolkata, has adhered to Mahalik's panacea for the ailing postal department. Thanks to Som's efforts, the department has grown, on an average, by 37 per cent over the past three years, and in 2000-01, clocked revenues of Rs 3,182 crore. But even such rapid growth isn't enough to shield the losses that keep piling up at the Department; in 2000 that figure stood at Rs 1,600 crore. Tapan Sikdar, Minister of State for Communication, points out that most of the department's groaning losses are on account of subsidies on inland, envelope, and airmail. ''But the facelift is in progress and we will soon recover by leveraging our massive infrastructure.'' The department may be a late starter, but by focusing on technology and the customer, India Post is attempting to make up for lost time. The losses are expected to be wiped out in four to five years soothsays Sikdar, his face beaming with confidence. V. Sadashivam, Deputy dg (Technology), has some more brave words. ''If we are lucky, in 10 years, the Department of Post will be entirely privatised.'' The Department clearly isn't depending only on luck for future growth. As of today, there are exactly 1,54,551 post offices in the country. But there's still much more potential for growth, considering there are 6,07,030 villages in India. And if you go by some global examples, the postal business, if given the right treatment, can prove to be a goldmine. The US Postal Service, for instance, is the 26th richest company in the world, according to Fortune Global 500 list. Again, the German and the Dutch postal systems, after being privatised, have been listed on the stock exchanges. And in Asia, Singapore Post has tied up with courier major TNT to form a single entity for mail delivery worldwide. Other courier companies too, are tying up with postal bodies and sharing infrastructure. Making money is Som's mantra too, with more than a little help from technology. To that end, he's set up three strategic business units (SBUs): the business development directorate, the financial services group and the technology wing. Speed Post, Parcel Post, Logistics Post... The business development directorate is housed approximately 7 kms from the hub of postdom, Dak Bhavan, in New Delhi. It has a clutch of services under its banner such as Speed Post, the Speed Post Passport Service, Speednet, Express Parcel Post (door-to-door delivery of parcels up to 35 kg), Business Post (the entire range of pre-mailing activities-franking, gumming, inserting and dispatching-for corporates), Data Post, Media Post (a corporate communications vehicle), and Greeting Post (cards with pre-paid postage envelopes). Talks are currently on to launch Logistics Post this year, which aims at earnings from the bulk movement of goods.
Of all the offerings of the Business Development Directorate, Speed Post is by far the most profitable, and accounts for more than 50 per cent of the total Rs 282 crore revenue. Since 1996, the number of Speed Post users has more than trebled, from 112 lakh to 377 lakh. Megacorps like Reliance, American Express, Citibank, Standard Chartered Grindlays, HDFC, LIC and SBI are regular Speed Post users. The Directorate recently joined hands with HCL to sell computers in post offices, just like stamps are sold over the counter! Computers will be displayed in select post offices and the customer has to just amble in and order the pc of his choice by placing the money in the post office. On receiving the money, HCL will send the pc via Speed Post. The Department makes money, the pc-seller gets more points of sale, and the customer gets accessibility. The Directorate has also tied up with e-tailer Fabmart and will be selling the company's music CDs, books and other products through Speed Post. 1 | 2 |
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Web-based
applications, e-tailing, retailing, ATMs, instant money transfer services,
credit card-based payment solutions, cash management services...is it a
bank, is it a new economy wannabe, is it a global conglomerate?
