Lok Sabha Question No. 1378 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-11-23
Subject: Revenue Deficit of India Post
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: JOSE K. MANI, George Baker, Richard Hay

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF POSTS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1378 TO BE ANSWERED ON 23 RD   NOVEMBER, 2016

## REVENUE DEFICIT OF INDIA POST

1378.   SHRI JOSE K. MANI: SHRI GEORGE BAKER: PROF. RICHARD HAY:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether there has been a revenue deficit in the department of Posts since the last few years;
- (b) if  so,  the  details  of  revenue  realization  and  expenditure  along  with  the  reasons  for such deficit and the measures taken by the Government to improve the financial position of the department;
- (c) whether  the  Government  is  considering  upward  revision  of  rates  of  some  postal products;
- (d) if so, the details thereof, product-wise;
- (e) whether  the  Government  is  aware  of  increasing  demand  of  e-commerce  parcel centres and proposes to upgrade and establish more e-commerce parcel centres to meet the growing demand of e-commerce sector; and
- (f) if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  the  time  by  which  parcel  centres  are  likely  to  be established?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) Yes Madam.
- (b) It is fact that there has been a revenue deficit in the Department of Post since the last  few  year.  Revenue  realised  and  expenditure  incurred    by  the  Department  is  shown  as under:-

( ` in crore)

| Items           |   2011-12 |   2012-13 |   2013-14 |   2014-15 |   2015-16 |
|-----------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
| Net Expenditure |     13705 |     14792 |     16203 |     17895 |     18947 |
| Total Revenue   |      7899 |      9367 |     10730 |     11636 |     12940 |
| Revenue Deficit |      5806 |      5426 |      5473 |      6259 |      6007 |

There are two major components of expenditure- Salary and Pension. More than 90% of the expenditure is incurred on these two components. Besides, Department under    Universal Service  Obligation  is  responsible  for  providing  mail  and  financial  services  to  each  and  every citizen of India at reasonable and affordable rates. Given the responsibility of providing services to addressees at reasonable cost coupled with ever increasing cost of fuel, AMC, transportation of postal articles including rail and air freight charges etc., there is an impact on the operational cost  of  postal  network.  Though,  there  is  ever  increasing  cost  of  fuel,  AMC,  transportation  of postal  articles  including  rail  and  air  freight  charges  etc.,  the  Department  of  Posts  offers  its services  at  the  addressee`s  doorstep  at  a  reasonable  cost.    However,  there  are  continuous efforts to limit the expenditure within the budgetary allocations.

## Major initiatives taken by the Department for improvement of the financial position of the Department are as under:-

- I. The  Parcel  booking  and  handling  facilities  have  been  upgraded  to  cater  to  the increasing e-commerce parcel market.
- II. Parcel handling capacity has been augmented by establishment/ up gradation of 57 integrated Parcel Processing Centres and mechanising the pickup/delivery of parcels.
- III. Collection  of  Cash  -  on  -  Delivery(COD)  facility  especially  for  e-commerce companies  has  been  provided  as  a  value  addition  to  the  Speed  Post  and Express/Business Parcel.
- IV. Online Track and Trace system for Speed Post has been strengthened. In addition to the website of the Department of Posts (www.indiapost.gov.in), the status of an article can also be tracked through an android based mobile application.
- V. The facility of Short Messaging Service (SMS) has been provided for giving the delivery status of an article.
- VI. National  Account  facility  has  been  introduced  under  Speed  Post  and  Express/ Business Parcel for contractual customers.
- VII. Provision has been made for packaging, shrink-wrap facilities, secure plastic seals at selected locations.
- VIII. Application  Programme  Interface  (API)  has  been  provided  to  the  contractual customers for real time information.
- IX. Same  day/  next  day  delivery  of  e-commerce  articles  in  select  cities  has  been started.
- X. Railway  tickets  are  being  sold  through  post  offices  under  an  agreement  signed with the Ministry of Railways. Presently this service is available in 343 post offices across India.
- XI. Government of India has introduced Sovereign Gold Bond scheme (SGB) in the Union Budget 2015-16. During the six tranches issued in last and current financial year, 96215 Sovereign Gold Bond applications for Rs.81.40 crore were collected through Post Offices across the country.
- XII. Department  of  Posts  in  association  with  Ministry  of  Agriculture  has  started distribution of high yielding seeds and dissemination of information on new farm technologies to farmers through the village Post Offices in 14 states.
- XIII. Tie-ups  have  been  made  with  Railway  Recruitment  Boards,  CBSE  and  various universities/institutions  etc  for  collection  of  their  examination  fee  through  Post Offices.

In  sum,  all  these  above  initiatives  would  go  a  long  way  to  fetch  more  business  and generate more revenue.

(c)  & (d) The revision of rates of postal products is an ongoing exercise and  carried out from time to time  to improve the revenue of the Department of Posts.

(e) and  (f)  Yes, Madam. Department of Posts has a focussed approach to fulfill the needs of the e-Commerce sector and parcel delivery, to increase its revenue receipts. As part of its strategy to provide  parcel  delivery  and  handling  solutions,  Department  of  Posts  has  upgraded    its  service offering and the Parcel booking and handling facilities are upgraded to cater to the increasing eCommerce  market.  During  the  period  2013-14  to  2015-16,  57  e-Commerce/Parcel  Booking Centres  have  been  established  and  infrastructure  of  the  Parcel  centres  has  been  upgraded. Moreover, Upgradation of infrastructure is a continuous and ongoing activity.

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