Lok Sabha Question No. 1147 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-02-08
Subject: Banking Services in Post Offices
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: BHANU PRATAP SINGH VERMA

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF POSTS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1147 TO BE ANSWERED ON 8 TH  FEBRUARY, 2017

## BANKING SERVICES IN POST OFFICES

†1147. SHRI BHANU PRATAP SINGH VERMA:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government proposes to start banking facilities in post offices at par with banks;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) the number of post offices operating in the country, State-wise; and
- (d) whether the Government proposes to provide ATMs to post office savings accountholders and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE (IC) OF THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS & MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS (SHRI MANOJ SINHA)

(a) & (b) The Department of Posts, Ministry of Communications has set up 'India Post Payments Bank' as a Public Limited Company with 100% Government of India (GoI) equity. After the grant of licence from the RBI, The India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) has launched two branches in Raipur and Ranchi on 30/01/2017 with limited banking services. A Payments  Bank  is  a 'differentiated  bank'  set-up  under  the  guidelines  of  the  Reserve  Bank  of  India  (RBI)  to  further financial inclusion for the underserved population by providing (i) Current and savings accounts and (ii)  Payments  or  remittance  services  to  migrant  labour  workforce,  low  income  households,  small businesses,  unorganized  sector  entities  and  other  users.  Payments  bank  is  similar  to  a  universal bank, except in a few key areas, as stated below:

-  Payments Bank can accept demand deposits only i.e. savings and current accounts and will  initially  be  restricted  to  holding  a  maximum  balance  of  Rs.  100,000  per  individual customer.
-  Payments Bank cannot accept NRI deposits
-  Payments Bank are not allowed to undertake lending activities directly and cannot grant loans
-  Payments Bank cannot set up subsidiaries to undertake non banking financial services activities.
- (c) The State/UT wise number of post offices operational in the country as on 31.03.2016 is at Annexure -A.
- (d) Yes Madam. As part of the IT Modernization Project the Government has decided to provide ATM  facility  for  Post  Office  Savings  Bank  (POSB)  customers.  As  of  now  970  ATMs  have  been installed  at  major  post  offices  across  the  country.  The  details  of  number of   ATMs  Installed  is  at Annexure-B.

Contd……..2/-

## ANNEXURE-A

## State/UT-wise Number of Post Offices functional  in the country

(as on 31.03.2016)

| Sl. No.   | States/UTs           |   Total No. of Post Offices |
|-----------|----------------------|-----------------------------|
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh       |                       10322 |
| 2         | Assam                |                        4012 |
| 3         | Bihar                |                        9037 |
| 4         | Chhattisgarh         |                        3157 |
| 5         | Delhi                |                         554 |
| 6         | Gujarat              |                        8926 |
| 6.1       | Dadar & Nagar Haveli |                          38 |
| 6.2       | Damna & Diu          |                          19 |
| 7         | Haryana              |                        2684 |
| 8         | Himachal Pradesh     |                        2785 |
| 9         | Jammu & Kashmir      |                        1701 |
| 10        | Jharkhand            |                        3109 |
| 11        | Karnataka            |                        9663 |
| 12        | Kerala               |                        5057 |
| 12.1      | Lakshdweep           |                          10 |
| 13        | Madhya Pradesh       |                        8286 |
| 14        | Maharashtra          |                       12601 |
| 14.1      | Goa                  |                         258 |
| 15        | North East:          |                           0 |
| 15.1      | Arunachal Pradesh    |                         301 |
| 15.2      | Meghalaya            |                         491 |
| 15.3      | Mizoram              |                         389 |
| 15.4      | Manipur              |                         702 |
| 15.5      | Nagaland             |                         330 |
| 15.6      | Tripura              |                         710 |
| 16        | Odisha               |                        8169 |
| 17        | Punjab               |                        3810 |
| 17.1      | Chandigarh           |                          51 |
| 18        | Rajasthan            |                       10318 |
| 19        | Tamil Nadu           |                       12035 |
| 19.1      | Puducherry           |                          96 |
| 20        | Telangana            |                        5835 |
| 21        | Uttarakhand          |                        2721 |
| 22        | Uttar Pradesh        |                       17662 |
| 23        | West Bengal          |                        8762 |
| 23.1      | Andaman&Nicobar      |                         100 |
| 23.2      | Sikkim               |                         209 |
|           | Total                |                      154910 |

Contd……3/-

| Circle           |   ATM Installed at Post Offices |
|------------------|---------------------------------|
| ANDHRA PRADESH   |                              95 |
| ASSAM            |                              26 |
| BIHAR            |                              43 |
| CHATTISGARH      |                              14 |
| DELHI            |                              26 |
| GUJARAT          |                              41 |
| HARYANA          |                              20 |
| HIMACHAL PRADESH |                              20 |
| JAMMUKASHMIR     |                               9 |
| JHARKHAND        |                              19 |
| KARNATAKA        |                              76 |
| KERALA           |                              42 |
| MADHYA PRADESH   |                              52 |
| MAHARASHTRA      |                              75 |
| NORTH EASTERN    |                              13 |
| ORISSA           |                              44 |
| PUNJAB           |                              26 |
| RAJASTHAN        |                              64 |
| TAMILNADU        |                              97 |
| UTTAR PRADESH    |                              86 |
| UTTARAKHAND      |                              18 |
| WEST BENGAL      |                              64 |
| Grand Total      |                             970 |

## **************************

ANNEXURE-B