Lok Sabha Question No. 2108 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-03-04
Subject: Revenue of India Post
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Kirron  Kher

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF POSTS

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2108 TO BE ANSWERED ON 4 TH  MARCH, 2020

## REVENUE OF INDIA POST

## 2108. SHRIMATI KIRRON KHER:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) the annual revenue of India Post during each of the last three years;
- (b) whether there has been an increase in the revenue deficit of India Post over the past few years, if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;
- (c) the major sources of revenue of the India Post during the same period;
- (d) whether there is any proposal of diversifying the business of India Post into more e-commerce and other value-added services by leveraging its workforce and vast postal network to increase the revenue and if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) the steps taken by the Government to increase the revenue of the India Post?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS, HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI SANJAY DHOTRE)

- (a) The Annual Revenue of the India Post during last three years is furnished below:

(Rs. in Crore)

| Total Postal Revenue   |   2016-17 |   2017-18 |   2018-19 |
|------------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
| Total Postal Revenue   |     11511 |   12832.8 |   13195.7 |

- (b) Yes; there has been an increase in the revenue deficit of India Post over the past few years.

(Rs. in Crore)

|                         |   2016-17 |   2017-18 |   2018-19 |
|-------------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
| Net Revenue Expenditure |     23481 |   25248.6 |   27173.1 |
| Total Postal Receipt    |     11511 |   12832.8 |   13195.7 |
| Revenue Deficit         |     11970 |   12415.8 |   13977.4 |

DOP  has  primarily  two  major  components  of  gross  expenditure:  Salaries  and  Pensions,  which constitute more than 90% of the gross expenditure. Expenditure pertains to salary (Pay and allowances) in on the higher side due to implementation of revised pay and allowances as per 7 th  Pay Commission. Pensionary charges have also increased due to revision of pension of pre- 2006/ 2016 as per 7 th  pay commission. Large numbers of pensioners have also been increased during last few years. Further, in order to fulfil Universal Service Obligation, Post Offices in Rural areas are considered justified if they are able to cover 33.33% of the expenditure (15% in hilly/tribal areas) and to keep these offices operational, the necessary cost has to be

incurred  by  the  department.  Increase  in  cost  of  materials,  hike  in  cost  of  carriage  of  Mails  through Railways/Air /Road,  Broad  band  connectivity,  IT  induction,  AMC,  Fuel  cost,  Increase  in  rental  etc.  have resulted in increase of expenditure.

(c) The major items of revenue for the Department of Posts are as follows: -

| Details                                                                 |   Financial Year 2016-17 |   Financial Year 2017-18 |   Financial Year 2018-19 |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------|--------------------------|--------------------------|
| Speed Post                                                              |                  1785.25 |                  1833.37 |                  1922.51 |
| Sale of Stamps                                                          |                   470.78 |                   366.69 |                   542.84 |
| Postage through Franking Machines and Pre- postage                      |                   777.34 |                   848.06 |                   370.6  |
| Postage- Other Schemes *                                                |                     8.5  |                    69.55 |                   344.32 |
| Business Post                                                           |                   752.52 |                   747.14 |                   271.47 |
| MO&IPO                                                                  |                   284.62 |                   228.11 |                   248.63 |
| Philatelic Ancillaries                                                  |                    13.54 |                    32.23 |                   192.49 |
| Business Parcel                                                         |                    94.8  |                    84.46 |                    84.54 |
| Retail Post                                                             |                    67.68 |                   108.59 |                    72.98 |
| Express Parcel                                                          |                    64.18 |                    54.07 |                    45.56 |
| MGNREGA                                                                 |                    48    |                   156.9  |                    31.53 |
| Bill Mail Service                                                       |                    77.15 |                    56.74 |                    29.79 |
| E. Bill Collection                                                      |                    26.34 |                    22.88 |                    25.88 |
| Commemorative Stamps                                                    |                    43.3  |                    61.96 |                    24.93 |
| Logistic Post                                                           |                    16.31 |                     1.54 |                    12.56 |
| Railway ticket booking                                                  |                     2.54 |                     2.25 |                     2.25 |
| e.Post                                                                  |                     1.63 |                     4.78 |                     2.13 |
| Other Activities **                                                     |                   152.58 |                   236.94 |                   930.29 |
| Net Receipts / Payments to Other Postal Administration(Other Countries) |                  -267.22 |                  -192.03 |                  -227.95 |
| SB (Savings Bank) &CC(Cash Certificates) Remuneration                   |                  7085.83 |                  8102.32 |                  8262.93 |
| Total                                                                   |                 11511    |                 12832.8  |                 13195.7  |

(Rs. in Crore)

Note: -* Postage-Other schemes includes Greeting Post, Direct Post, National Bill Mail, Flat rate Parcel, Over Night Parcel, e VPP,  e- Commerce Product and International Mails.

** Other  activities  incudes  retail  activites  such  as  Sale  of  forms,  Examination/Recruitment  Fee, Cable TV Registration Fee, Fee from ATM Interoperable, Other recoveries from APS, sale of old records etc.

(d) Department has also introduced various citizen centric services such as Aadhaar facility in the Post Offices, Post Offices Passport Seva Kendras and India Post Passenger Reservation System (IP-PRS) which has not only enhanced the social relevance of the Department but also led to increase in revenue in the year 2020-21.

It is proposed to increase Aadhaar transactions through organising special camps for which mobile kits have been given to Aadhaar centres. Furthermore, attempts are also being made to increase the number of  transactions  and  revenue  of  Post  Office  Passport  Seva  Kendras  (POPSKs)  and  India  Post  Passenger Reservation  System  (IP-PRS)  through  opening  of  more  passport  Kendras  and  Passenger  Reservation System in the Post Offices.

Opening  of  more  savings  bank  accounts  including  Senior  Citizen  Savings  Schemes/Sukanya Samridhi  Yojana  Accounts  for  senior  citizen  and  the  girl  child  will  be  undertaken  for  increased remuneration from MoF.

More PLI and RPLI policies will be procured for increase in recovery/remuneration from POIF.

Business  Development & Marketing Directorate offers  a  number  of  premium  services  like  Speed Post, Business Parcel, and Logistics Post etc to generate additional revenue for the Department. Further, the Department of Posts periodically reviews its services and products keeping in view the changing market scenario,  customer  needs,  industry  benchmarks  etc  and  takes  steps/action  to  modify  service  features  to improve the postal services and boost the revenue growth of the Department. Technology integration and infrastructure up-gradation is also being done in a systematic manner to increase the efficiency and reduce the  cost  of  operation  and  thereby  revenue  deficit  would  be  decreasing.  The  Department  has  focused approach to cater to the needs of the emerging markets viz. e-Commerce to increase its revenue.

(e) The following additional initiatives have been taken by the Department to augment revenue and support other Government of India Department and PSUs

-  Digital Life Certificate for Pensioners of DOT/BSNL/MTNL.
-  Providing SMS alert to customers to maintain quality of service.
-  LED display screens in post offices for revenue generation through media post.
-  Computerization, infrastructure and site up gradation of mail and parcel processing is being carried out by the Parcel Directorate.
-  End to end tracking facility is provided for accountable articles viz. Speed Post, Registered Post, Parcels, etc.
-  Dedicated  point  to  point  road  transport  for  fast  and  secure  transmission  of  Speed  Post, parcels,  and  e-commerce  articles  has  been  introduced  between  cities  having  substantial business volume.
-  Departmental  vehicles  have  been  equipped  with  Geo  Positioning  System  (GPS)  for monitoring mail transmission on real time basis.
-  Real  time  updation  of  delivery  information  for  accountable  articles  by  use  of  Post  Man mobile app has also been implemented.
-  Energy Efficient LED bulbs are being distributed through post offices in association with EESL (Energy Efficiency Services Limited) under the government's UJALA (Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All) scheme.

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