Lok Sabha Question No. 1395 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-02-10
Subject: Agreement on Sharing of Postal Shipment Data
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Kuldeep Rai Sharma, DNV Senthilkumar. S., Sunil Dattatray Tatkare, Subhash Ramrao Bhamre, Amol Ramsing Kolhe, Supriya Sadanand Sule

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF POSTS

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1395 TO BE ANSWERED ON 10 TH  FEBRUARY, 2021

## AGREEMENT ON SHARING OF POSTAL SHIPMENT DATA

1395.   SHRI KULDEEP RAI SHARMA: DR. DNV SENTHILKUMAR S.: SHRI SUNIL DATTATRAY TATKARE: DR. SUBHASH RAMRAO BHAMRE: DR. AMOL RAMSING KOLHE: SHRIMATI SUPRIYA SULE:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether India Post and US Postal Service signed agreement for electronic exchange of data related to postal shipments and if so, the details and the objectives thereof;
- (b) whether profitability of India Post will be enhanced due to this agreement and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) the steps taken by the Government to facilitate ease of exports through postal channels;
- (d) whether  there  has  been  a  decrease  in  the  revenue  earned  by  India  Post  due  to  Covid-19 pandemic and if so, the details thereof and the steps taken by the Government to improve the revenue;
- (e) 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
- (f) the other steps taken by the Government to strengthen and boost the income of India Post?

## ANSWER

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

- (a)  Yes,  an  agreement  for  Electronic  Exchange  of  Customs  Data  of  postal  shipments  was  signed between  India  Post  and  United  States  Postal  Service  on  24th  October,  2020. The  agreement  shall enable  transmission  of  electronic  customs  data  of  international  postal  items  before  their  physical arrival at the destination. It shall also enable faster Customs clearance of Postal items.

(b) The agreement will facilitate faster Customs clearance of Postal Shipments to the United States of America,  which  will  be  helpful  in  faster  delivery  and  is  likely  to  increase  the  mail  volume  and revenue of India Post.

(c) The  Department  of  Posts  (DoP)  has  expanded  the  access  for  the  exporters  through  postal channel by increasing the number of Foreign Post Offices from 5 in 2017 to 28 notified Foreign Post Offices. In addition, Postal Bill of Exports (PBE) has been introduced and software development for electronic filing of PBE has been undertaken to ensure ease of documentation and customs clearance processes.

(d)  &  (e)  Yes,  there  has  been  a  decrease  in  the  revenue  earned  by  India  post  due  to  Covid-19 pandemic. The revenue of DoP from Postal Operations in first three quarters of financial year 202021 is about Rs. 2315 Crore against about Rs. 3032 Crore during the same period in 2019-20.

In  order  to  increase  the  revenue,  the  Department  of  Posts  has  already  diversified  and  is providing  first  mile  to  last  mile  solutions  i.e.,  booking,  transmission,  and  delivery  of  e-commerce products under Speed Post and Parcels. Value additions including pick up for bulk customers, Cash on Delivery, volume discounts, etc. are also being provided. To further leverage the postal network, Parcel Network Optimization Project (PNOP)  has been undertaken to increase the parcel handlingcapacity. Under this project, 188 Parcel Hubs and 100 Mechanized Nodal Delivery Centres (NDCs) have been set up across the country. A nation-wide Road Transport Network (RTN) has also been rolled out since April, 2020 on 56 long-haul routes. Besides DoP is providing 'Book Now Pay Later' (BNPL) facility to its bulk Customers for easy settlement of accounts.

(f)  The other Steps taken to strengthen and boost income of India Post include the following major initiatives:

-  Technology induction  to  improve  the  quality  of  service  like  track  &  trace  of  postal  articles, Core Banking System (CBS), online premium payment of Postal Life Insurance, use of Mobile Apps to increase the number of transactions as well as revenue.
-  Department has expanded all Post Office Savings Schemes to all Post Offices with the objective of comprehensive financial inclusion and addition in savings bank accounts.
-  Provision  of  Citizen-Centric  Services,  which  also  fetch  revenue  to  the  Government,  through Post  Offices  including  Post  Office  Passport  Seva  Kendras,  Aadhar  Updation  and  Enrolment Centres, Common Service Centres, providing Digital Life Certificates (Jeevan Praman) etc.
-  Doorstep payment of money through Aadhaar enabled Payment System (AePS) of India Post Payments Bank.

<!-- image -->