India Post eyes e-commerce venture

New Delhi: The Department of Posts (India Post), plans to develop a business structure for selling postal and postal financial products online. It also plans to sell non-postal products, particularly village industries and small and medium enterprise products, online. Pegged at an initial cost of around R100 crore, India Post has kept the roll out of e-commerce services as one of the top priorities under the 12th Five Year Plan period.
India Post will also create an e-market place consisting of e-shops set up by suppliers chosen through a comprehensive selection process, involving quality testing. “Tie-ups with one or more e-commerce majors would be put in place, which would help India Post manage the portal on a day-to-day basis and to market the same,” a senior official said.
But this comes at a time when less than 1% of its own 155,000 post offices are connected to broadband internet.
Overall, only around 8% (12,604) of the 1.55 lakh post offices in India are computerised, while only around 6% (9,300) are connected to a dial-up internet. Also, the Indian postal department is staring at a revenue loss of around R6,000 crore while its gross expenditure has virtually doubled to around R14,000 crore in the last four years. In its submissions made to a parliamentary panel last year, India Post conceded ‘negligence’ on the part of its officials and termed ‘managerial failure’ for the sharp shortfall in the revenues realised from the sale of postage stamps in the country.
However, in a recent proposal sent to the Planning Commission for the 12th Five Year Plan period (2012-2017), the department said that with its network of 1.5 lakhs post offices and proven capabilities in mail and financial services, it is ideally poised to establish a strong presence in the e-commerce sector in India.
“A pilot project was launched in March, 2011 under the brand ePost Office. This project will provide valuable learning in the operational, financial and management aspects of e-Commerce,” India Post said.
It also said that the India Post will also develop its full-fledged e-commerce IT platform under the technology transformation project.
In the first phase, India Post will make available its the entire range of postal products to customers online. This will include mail, express, parcel service, banking and insurance products, money order and cash on delivery. The postal department said it will create an adequate back office structure to manage the operations and accounting, and a front office structure for marketing and sales.

Source : The Financial Express, 10 Dec, 2012

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World’s first postage stamp, rare coins to be on display

Pune: The world's first postage stamp, the Penny Black, India's first pigeongram and many other rare coins and stamps will be on display next week at an exhibition organised by the International Collectors' Society.

Coinpex, the three-day exhibition starting on December 11, will be held at Sonal Hall and the exhibits of eminent philatelists who have won gold medals at various competitions will be displayed.

Addressing a news conference on Friday, Narendra Tole, president, International Collectors' Society of Rare Items, said, "It will be a great opportunity for Puneites to participate and buy unique and valuable stamps and coins. About 35 dealers will put up selling booths which will enable philatelists and numismatists to add to their collections."

K C Mishra, post master general, will inaugurate the exhibition , while Vispi Dastur, eminent philatelist and international juror, will be conferred with the lifetime achievement award. Another eminent philatelist, Kishor Chandak of Solapur, will be felicitated for his achievements in philately. A souvenir will be released to mark the exhibition.

Asia's first adhesive postal stamp and Silver Hon coin issued during the time of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in South India, will also be among the exhibits on display.

The International Collectors' Society of Rare Items has been actively promoting collections and hobbies in the younger generation for the past 17 years. The society has more than 175 life members with different types of collections.

Source :http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com

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C CLASS POST OFFICE WORK FLOW-A TUTORIAL

C CLASS POST OFFICE WORK FLOW-A TUTORIAL

 

As all we know about the modernization of Post Offices are in its way and in relation to this Computerization of Post Offices have been started. Computerization of all Departmental Post Offices were completed in Tiruvalla Postal Division recently. The Sub Postmasters those who are working in C class offices got confused by the Meghdooth Packages. In C class offices also they have to be worked as like as a Head PO/ A Or B class offices.

Until a new version of meghdooth packages were develop Follow these steps and we are sure you can rush your home as early. Before going to the steps please Keep your Counter Cash In three Boxes .

In the First Box -- Yesterdays Closing Cash

Second Box -- Point Of Sale Revenue
Third Box -- Savings Bank Collection

Step 1: Run Emo Client

It can can be seen in Start Menu

Step 2: Day Begin all Packages

Package Name	DaY Begin		Day End		Work Allocation
	USER=SPM	USER=PA	USER=SPM	USER=PA
EMO	YES	NO	YES	YES	WORK allocation BY SPM
SPEED NET	YES	NO	YES	YES	WORK allocation BY SPM
POSTMAN	YES	NO	YES	NO	NO WORK allocation BY SPM
SUB ACCOUNT	YES	NO	YES	NO	NO WORK allocation BY SPM
TREAUSRER	YES	NO	YES	NO	NO WORK allocation BY SPM
POINT OF SALE	YES	NO	YES	YES	WORK ALLOCATION BY SPM
SB CASH	NO	NO	NO	NO	NO WORK Allocation BY SPM
DESPATCH	NO	YES	NO	YES	NO WORK Allocation BY SPM

Step 3: Log in as PA in Emo package and print Emos received and invoice Emos to Postman and Branch Office(if any attached) in Postman Package

Step 4: Enter Registered Letter and Parcel Bag details in the Postman Packageand Invoice Registered Letters and Parcels to Postman and Branch Office(if any attached)

Step 5: Scan the Bag particulars in SpeedNet Package and invoice Speed Articles to Postman and Branch Office(if any attached)

Step 6*: Enter the documents details that are sent along with the BO Slip inSub Accounts Package

Step 7*: If cash/ stamp/ both sent to BO enter the particulars of remittance inTreasury Package and note down the the weight of Cash Bag (if sent in cash bag) in the Sub Accounts Package

Step 8: Take reports of Registered Articles(both RLs and PLs) and Emo to Postman and BO(if any) from Postman Package.

Step 9: Take Speed post article Delivery slip and Speed Post articles to BO(if any) from SpeedNet Package

Step 10*: Print BO slip in Sub Accounts Package

Step 11: Give Emo payment cash to Postman

11(a) In Postman Package Login as SPM and Isuue Pay Order

11(b) In Treasury Package login as PA(TRR) and give Emo cash to Postman

Step 12#: when Cash/Cheque/Stamp received from HO Receive it asCash/Cheque/Stamp in Treasury Package.

Do this Step before Step 7/11 or after step 07/11 according to your cash needs

Morning Busy hours will come to an end when Step 12 Completes. There after Counter Busy Hours. After the Counter Transaction hour is over (mostly before the arrival BO if attached) transfer the Counter cash to Treasury Package from Point of sale and SB Cash Packages. In Treasury Package receive the transferred Cash from the POS and SB cash Packages.

Step 13: Check the Submit Account of Point Of sale Package and note down the Balance on Hand figure. This figure must tally with our Physical Cash in POS cash Box. If Tallies transfer the cash to Treasury Package using Cash entry menu of POS Package.

step14: Receive the Cash from POS package in Treasury Package.

[Note:- It will be a good practice to view TCB after the Receipt of cash ]

Step15: Enter the Sub Office(no BO transaction this time) SB receipts and Payments figure in SB Cash Package

Step16: Note balance on hand Figure of SB Cash package by viewing Submit account

(a) if it is a +ve figure then the balance on hand must be transferred to Treasury Package(this means Deposit is more than withdrawal)

(b) if it is a -ve figure, then the seen amount should be received from Treasury Package

Acknowledge the Cash sent by SB cash Package by Treasury Package if it is +ve

Acknowledge the Cash sent by Treasury Package by SB cash Package if it is -ve

Step17: View the Submit Account of both POS and SB Cash Packages and confirmBalance on Hand is Zero. If so view the Treasurer's cash Book(TCB)in Treasury Package and confirm the Cash Shown in the Page 2 of TCB tallies with the total Cash of Office.

If tallies get relaxed everything is fine for now and wait for the BO(if any)/ Postman/ Both return.

If no BO is attached continue with Step 18 or Postman arrived rearlier from Beat followStep26 after Step 17 and continue Step18

Step18*: Post the BO daily Account details in Sub Account Package

Step19*: Receive cash (if any) sent by BO in Treasury Package Under BO remittance Cash

Step20*: Go to Sub Account Package and Login as SPM and verify the Cash sent to and received (if any) by BO.

Step21*: Do Remittance Adjustment by Sub Account Package Spm. Do this whenever cash sent to BO/Received from BO/ Both happens after Step 20

Step22*: check Transit and Advance Table by Using Transit option Of Sub Account Package

Step23*: Give BO sb Transactions in SB Cash Package

Step24*: Do the BO remarks of Speed Post articles, EMO, Registered Letter, parcel and Money orders

(a) Reg Letter/parcel, MO, Emo- in Postman Package

(b) Speed Post & UID articles - in SpeedNet Package

Step25*: Re book the TRC, RPLI, VPMO(if VP delivered) and EMO in POS Package

Step26: Take the returns of Postman

(a) In Postman Package- Reg Letter/parcel, MO, Emo

(b) In SpeedNet Package- SpeedPost & UID articles

Step27: Return any cash to Treasury Package if any Unpaid Emo/MO or Vp deliverd by Postman

Step 28: Despatch the Counter booked, Postman returned and BO returned/ Booked registered Letter, Parcel,MO, Speed Post articles. Use Despatch Package for Reg Letter, Parcel and MO.

Use SpeedNet Package for Speed Post articles.

step29: Check The TCB and Confirm the Physical Cash Tallies with the TCB closing Cash and also note down the Total Closing balance of TCB in Treasury Package

Step30: Print the Submit Account Report of POS and SB Cash Package. (if nothing wrong with the BO entries both submit Account Balance on Hand Figure will be Zero).

Step31: Log in as SPM in POS and SB Cash Package and verify the acounts

Step32: Submit the accounts of Postman and window(if any) in Postman Package

step33: View Daily Account in Treasury Package by log in as PA/TRR of Treasury Package.

Check (a) All part I & II entries are correct

(b) Cash Noticed in TCB Tallies with Daily Account and Physical cash

(c) Stamp and Cheque Balance Noted in TCB Tallies with dail account

(d) total balance agree with TRR statement figure of Daily Account tallies with TCB closing balance.

Everything then go forward to take reports

Step34: Log in as PA in POS Package and do Shift End and take reports and Log in as SPM and do Shift End

Step35*: Take BO Summary Report by Log in as PA in Sub Account Package

Step35: Print Emo paid, Mo paid list, Reg/Parcel abstract from Postman Package. Speed abstract From Speednet Package and Despatch Abstract from Despatch Package

step36: Do Shift end in Speednet Package and Emo Package by PA and then by SPM in the Packages and exit packages

Step37: Do Day end in Sub Account Package and Postman Package by SPM and exit packages

Step38: Do shift end By PA in Despatch Package and exit the package

Step39: Log in Treasury Package as SPM and enter the document particulars sent along with Daily account and Do the Day End

Step40: Print Daily Account using Menu Reports in Treasury Package. also Print TCB, Satamp Balance register

Step41: Click the floppy Upload Option under Report menu of Treasurer Package and exit the Package

step42: Double Click on the Short Cut to Account MIS to send the DET

Do these steps and reach home early.

Happy Reading!!!!!!!

Sources:http://tiruvallapost.blogspot.in/

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Employment News : New Column in Employment News for disabled persons called “Ability Brings Employment

New Column in Employment News for disabled persons called “Ability Brings Employment”

New Column for disabled persons

Employment News will focus on this aspect from January 2013, by launching a new column called “Ability Brings Employment”.

Social and economic inclusion is key to a meaningful growth.  The core message of democracy is inclusiveness. Since its inception, focus of Employment News has been to disseminate equitable employment opportunities for all section of society including persons with disabilities.  In the recent past, it has been realized by more and more industries and services to view qualified persons with disabilities as a valuable human resource. This important section of society can no longer be ignored.  From various quarters there have been requests to Employment News to publish information on employment opportunities for them.

Employment News will focus on this aspect from January 2013, by launching a new column called “Ability Brings Employment”.  Every alternative month, employment opportunities and upgradation of skills etc. will be highlighted in this column. 

It is yet another step of Employment News to enrich its subscribers and readers.

Source: www.employmentnewsweeklyjobs.com

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Core Banking in Post Offices - PTC journal

Core Banking – Towards Execution - 2012-14

G. Natarajan, Director (Core Banking Solutions)

The first ATM in India was installed by HSBC Bank in 1987.[1] Post offices will get ATMs next year. The technology gap between India Post and HSBC (India) is more than 20 years. The last branch of SBI went live on the core banking (CB) platform in the year 2008.[2] The last departmental post office will go live on the core banking platform in 2014. There will still be a gap of six years.

Reasons for Core Banking

The need for core banking for Post Office Savings Bank (POSB) arises out of many reasons:

1. Cost of operations: The cost of operations in core banking is less than those of the present system. The remuneration we get from the Ministry of Finance for Post Office Savings Bank  work is based on an average of five transactions per account per year. If we take out the back office work, this would mean that we spend roughly Rs. 30 per transaction. (Surprisingly, banks’ counter transaction costs are around Rs. 45-50 per transaction.[3] Are our costs hidden? Is it because of our low-cost GDS model? Is it due to economies of scope? We do not know.) On the other hand, the transaction cost of withdrawal from an ATM is Rs. 15-18. For net banking, the cost is Rs. 4 per transaction.[4] With the advent of core banking, the unique duplicating process in post offices from BO to SO to HO suddenly appears to be an operational nightmare. A process that has led to the creation of SOSBs seems out of place and time, when compared to the centralised process of core banking.

2. Anti–money laundering (AML) norms: It is easy to comply with anti–money laundering norms through core banking. The AML norms require the post office to detect when a customer has opened multiple accounts. This is not possible in Sanchay Post, the current software that is used for POSB operations. Moreover, unless we comply effectively with the KYC norms, we will not be able to issue debit cards to our customers, as effective compliance to KYC is a precondition for participating in an inter-operable payment network that facilitates withdrawing money from any ATM or transact from any point-of-sale (POS) machine in shops.

3. Erosion of competitive advantage of POSBs in rural areas: The business correspondent (BC) model and the UIDAI authentication through Aadhaar may make the presence of POSBs in rural areas irrelevant. The BC model is a direct threat to our GDS model. The problems of  principal – agent and information asymmetry that the banks suffered in the BC (agent) model is eliminated by the use of Aadhaar. Today the bank knows instantly that the money that is withdrawn through its BCs (agent)  is done so by the account holders—through UIDAI authentication—and not by the BCs themselves. The loosely structured BC model seems effective through the use of technology. The BC model seems to be as good as our GDS model. The information asymmetry that has helped POSB maintain a competitive advantage over banks is in the process of being eroded. Suddenly, the Postmaster’s knowledge of the neighbourhood becomes irrelevant. Aadhaar has replaced the local knowledge of the Postmaster helping the bank identify the account holders. Aadhaar also makes the customers, particularly in villages, less vulnerable to local power structures, and lowers the risk of being exploited by BCs.[5] This, along with the advantage of quicker MIS in core banking and the facility to integrate with NEFT (National Electronic Fund Transfer), has made the state governments and central government increasingly choose banks, rather than POSB, for benefit transfers. And yet there is still hope for POSB, as the BC model has not progressed well; it suffers from other problems, including that of lower remuneration paid to agents.

4. Changing customer preferences: The number of debit cards has grown from 5 crore in 2005 to around 29 crore today.[6] This is an increase of nearly 6 times in a span of 7 years. In India Post, we constantly talk about retaining our existing customers; what about those customers who have never visited a POSB in the last decade? Those 29 crore debit card holders have the option to transact in 7 lakh outlets (1 lakh ATMs and 6 lakh POS machines in shops) and in e-commerce portals—so why should they come to the post office?

Core Banking Project

The core banking project is part of the IT project, 2012 that aims to bring in various IT solutions with the required IT infrastructure to the post offices. India Post plans to implement core banking in all departmental post offices (around 25,000) by 2014. The 1.3 lakh branch offices will also be covered by deploying the CBS (Core Banking Solution) mobile application in hand-held devices that are to be supplied to these offices. The only difference is that these branch post offices will initially start working in an off-line mode and depending on availability of network connectivity, will move to an online mode.  120 post offices in six circles (Assam, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Tamilnadu and Uttar Pradesh) have been identified for rolling out the pilot.  ATMs are to be installed in all Head Offices and in around 200 MDGs/SOs. India Post has already signed the contract with M/s Infosys Ltd, the Financial Services System Integrator (FSI), for implementing Core Banking Solutions and for installing ATMs. 

Challenges Faced and Mitigation Plans

The major challenges faced by India Post are listed here:

1. Large number of offices and aggressive timelines: The large number of post offices makes the project the largest CB implementation attempted in India. See the table below:

S.No	Name of Bank	Number of Branches under CBS
1	Post Office Savings Bank	25,464*
2	State Bank of India	17,000 +
3	Punjab National Bank	4,857
4	Bank Of India	3,211
5	Canara Bank	3,109
6	Bank of Baroda	3,096
7	Union Bank of India	2,926
8	Syndicate Bank	2,327
9	UCO Bank	2,148
10	Central Bank of India	2,141

                         * By 2014

 However, the pace of implementation of CB system in banks has picked up in the last few years. In some banks, even 50 bank branches have gone live on the CB system in one day. India Post’s decision to go for a proven solution and an experienced vendor is also expected to mitigate the problem of implementing CB systems in a large number of offices over a shorter period of time.

2. Skill levels of staff: The existing staff’s skill levels in computers have definitely improved in the last few years. Today in Project Arrow, more than 12,000 offices are reporting daily. This shows that we are moving ahead in our skill levels, which enables us to work more effectively in a computerized environment. However, the CB system brings in new process changes that require training. This is planned to be mitigated by requiring the vendor to train around 15,000 staff, including around 2,000 as trainers under the Train the Trainer model. The change management vendor (M/s TCS Ltd) will devise training strategies to manage the change in a smoother way.

3. Migration of legacy data: The large amount of legacy data to be migrated both in electronic and manual format poses a serious challenge. The existing process of duplicating data from BO to SO to HO is making the data unreliable unless agreement and related work is done. Many activities have been undertaken, in the last few years, to digitize and cleanse the data, and these activities are expected to mitigate the problems of legacy data migration.

4. Integrating with an inter-operable network: Another challenge is how we would put in place systems and processes to participate in an inter-operable electronic payment network run by the National Payments Corporation of India, specifically the National Financial Switch that connects all ATMs in India. This would mean that India Post complies with the Prevention of Money Laundering Rules, 2005, and the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007. Eventually, in order to participate in this inter-operable electronic payment system, India Post has to fall under the regulatory supervision of RBI. India Post has received RBI’s approval to install ATMs and issue ATM cards. Its successful performance in a closed system of ATM networks (i.e., ATM cards) will eventually lead to RBI’s approval for issuing debit cards. Successful performance requires changes in our existing process and developing accounting and operational procedures.

Migration of Legacy Data:

Migrating data from Sanchay Post to the new CBS (Core Banking Solutions) software will be a major challenge while implementing core banking in post offices. The data that is to be migrated from Sanchay Post to core banking software has to be  up-to-date and reliable. Data can be made up-to-date by posting of all transaction data and by updating master data and standing instructions. Data can be made reliable by settling minus balance, SBCO objections and DB Analyzer discrepancies.

This is illustrated below:

Steps Taken towards Migrating Legacy Data

Many steps have been taken, right from Project Arrow, to digitize accounts and carry out account holder signature scanning. More than 14 crore accounts have been digitized. Roughly 12 crore signatures have been scanned. 

Pre-data migration activities that are monitored through fortnightly Project Arrow VCs have proceeded as given in the table below:

Activity	Key Parameters monitored	Offices	Date from which monitored
Data authentication Activity  - 1	Pending Interest posting in SB accounts	All offices	15.8.10
	Pending minus balance	All offices	31 12.10
	Pending number of SBCO objections beyond 6 months	All offices	25.3.11
Data Authentication Activity  - 2	Stage - I Online Monitoring of 34 Parameters in 4000 offices –focus on digitization, settling SBCO objections, clearing minus balances and database discrepancies (DB Analyzer)	Pilot - 120 offices	7.3.12
		Phase- 1 A - 701 Head Offices	20.3.12
		Phase- 1 B - 1509 Sub Offices of Pilot circles	1.5.12
		Phase- 2 A - 1679 Sub offices of rest of the  16 circles	4.5.12
Data Authentication Activity - 3	Stage - II Online monitoring of additional parameters for 120 Pilot offices – focus on work on agreement	Pilot - 120 offices	1.9.12 (Test)
Data Authentication Activity-  4	Visit by Circle/Regional level team - percentage checks and completion of pending work.	All circles	Parallel activity from Stage- 1.

These activities are showing results. The amount of negative balance (minus balance) has reduced from Rs. 640 crore to Rs. 64 crore since 2010. An online CB system pre-migration monitoring website is now in place, from which 4,000 offices are reporting their progress every day. The online website has a scoring system to grade the post offices. These scores and data are analyzed at various levels (and ultimately in Project Arrow VCs every fortnight). Project managers and executives of the National Institute of Smart Government (NISG) are training our postal staff in pre–data migration activities. In the last six months, more than 1,200 post offices have been visited by the NISG team. The data quality of many of the 4,000 offices has improved and is now almost ready for migration to the CB system. This online monitoring system will be expanded to the remaining departmental post offices.

The core banking project doesn’t bring incremental improvements to the existing process; rather, it overturns existing processes, specifically the BO to SO to HO process that post offices currently follow. It opens up the post office 24-7 through its ATMs. It enables POSB customers to perform transactions 24-7 in around 1 lakh ATMs and to perform transactions in 6 lakh POS outlets. It enables people to transfer money, sitting at home, from their account to any bank account through NEFT. Eventually, core banking will help change the perception of the post office in people’s minds and once again make the post office relevant to their needs.

Bibliography

Ashish Das, R. A. (2010). Cashless Payment System in India - A Road Map. Mumbai: Department of Mathematics, IIT, Bombay.

Celent. (2010). Tipping the Scale: Using Unix at One of the Largest Banks on Earth. A Case Study of SBI. Retrieved September 16, 2012, from http://www.tcs.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/Case%20Studies/BaNCS_Case-Study_SBI-Celent_120210.pdf

HSBC. (n.d.). Retrieved September 16, 2012, from www.hsbc.co.in: http://www.hsbc.co.in/1/2/miscellaneous/about-hsbc/150-years-in-india

RBI. (2012, September). Retail Electronic Payment Systems. Retrieved September 16, 2012, from http://www.rbi.org.in/scripts/BS_ViewBulletin.aspx

UIDAI. (2010). From Exclusion to Inclusion with Micropayments. Retrieved September 16, 2012, from http://uidai.gov.in/UID_PDF/Front_Page_Articles/Strategy/Exclusion_to_Inclusion_with_Micropayments.pdf

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