Lok Sabha Question No. 251 (STARRED), answered on 2016-08-03
Subject: Postal Department
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: NIHAL CHAND CHAUHAN

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF POSTS

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.251 TO BE ANSWERED ON 3 RD  AUGUST, 2016

## POSTAL DEPARTMENT

*251. SHRI NIHAL CHAND:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of the profit or loss incurred by the Department of Posts in postal, parcel, cargo, postal banking, insurance services and other activities during the last three financial years and the current financial year;
- (b) the financial and growth targets for the current and next three years and the details thereof, segment-wise;
- (c) the  amount  of  traffic  handled  by  private  courier  companies  in  the  parcel segment  and  the  loss  in  revenues  to  the  Department  of  Posts  due  to  the  private courier  companies  over  the  last  three  years  and  the  current  year  along  with  the reasons and details thereof;
- (d) the details of the assets under the management of the Department of Posts through its banking and insurance products; and
- (e) the percentage increase or decrease in such assets over the past three years and the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) to (e) A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

Contd…2/-

## STATEMENT TO BE LAID ON THE TABLE OF THE LOK SABHA IN RESPECT OF PARTS (a)  TO  (e)  OF  LOK    SABHA  STARRED  QUESTION  NO.  251    FOR  3 RD AUGUST, 2016 REGARDING 'POSTAL DEPARTMENT'.

- (a) Postal  Department  being  a  Service  department  does  not  maintain  commercial accounts. It maintains accounts as per govt. accounting procedure. Profit & loss can be ascertained  only  from  the  commercial  accounting  by  commuting  final  accounts  in  the form  of  trading  accounts,  profit  &  loss  accounts  and  balance  sheet.  The  product-wise expenditure and revenue is not possible to be ascertained from the existing accounts of the  Department  of  Posts.  However,  Department  of  Posts  is  continuously  registering deficit  on  the  postal  services  over  the  years.  The  deficit  during  2015-16  has  slightly decreased from Rs. 6259 crore to Rs. 6007 crore in comparison to 2014-15. The details of deficit during the last three years and current financial  year are as under:

## (Amount in crore)

| Items           |   2013-14 |   2014- 2015 |   2015- 2016 |   2016-17 (upto 2016) | June   |
|-----------------|-----------|--------------|--------------|-----------------------|--------|
| Net Expenditure |     16203 |        17895 |        18947 |                  4996 |        |
| Total Rev.      |     10730 |        11636 |        12940 |                  3093 |        |
| Revenue Deficit |      5473 |         6259 |         6007 |                  1903 |        |

Further, Department of Posts is generating postal revenue from the below noted areas of  services which are as under:-

(Amount in Crores)

|   Sl. No. | Details of Activities                    | 2013-14   | 2014-15   | 2015-16   | 2016-17 ( up to to June 2016)   |
|-----------|------------------------------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|---------------------------------|
|         1 | Postal Operation (Other than Parcels)    | 4736.91   | 4853.15   | 5005.49   | 916.41                          |
|         2 | Parcels                                  | 78.24     | 112.80    | 149.41    | 39.63                           |
|         3 | Cargo                                    | N/A       | N/A       | N/A       | N/A                             |
|         4 | Postal Banking                           | 5915.27   | 6670.03   | 7883.87   | 2137.02                         |
|         5 | Insurance Services                       | 533.00    | 604.42    | 619.66    | 136.76                          |
|         6 | Others (Recoveries other than Insurance) | 60.19     | 57.56     | 42.38     | 4.91                            |

In  fact,  there  is  marked  improvement  in  the  revenue  realization  of  the Department of Posts in the past few  years. Revenue of the Department has shown a steady  growth  over  the  years.  It  may  be  seen  from  the  above  table  that  revenue  has increased  from  Rs.  10730  crore  in  2013-14  to  Rs.  12940  crore  in  2015-16  (20.60%). Further, Deficit has increased from Rs. 5473 crore in 2013-14  to Rs. 6007 crore in 201516,  which  is  increased  just  9.7%  in  last  three  years.  Department  of  Posts  handles  the different products/services for which the cost allocated to the different major services/products,  the  losses  /gains  attributed  to  different  postal  services/products  are annexed at 'A'.

Contd……..3/-

- (b) Financial and growth targets for the current and next three years and segment-wise are as under:-

|                                           | Revenue targets for next three years (Rs in crores)   | Revenue targets for next three years (Rs in crores)   | Revenue targets for next three years (Rs in crores)   | Revenue targets for next three years (Rs in crores)   |
|-------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------|
| Revenue segment                           | 2016-17                                               | 2017-18                                               | 2018-19                                               | 2019-20                                               |
| Postal Operations                         | 5780                                                  | 6358                                                  | 6994                                                  | 7693                                                  |
| Savings Bank and Cash Certificates (SBCC) | 8047                                                  | 8852                                                  | 9737                                                  | 10711                                                 |
| Total                                     | 13827                                                 | 15210                                                 | 16731                                                 | 18404                                                 |

(c) No data of private  courier  companies  is available  in  the  Department.  As  such comparison with courier companies can not ascertained due to non availability of such data.

- (d) Asset Under Management (excluding frozen corpus) of Postal Life Insurance (PLI) and Rural Postal Life Insurance (RPLI) as on 31.03.2016 are as under:-
- (i) Insurance

(Amount in crore)

| Postal Life Insurance (PLI)        |   31217.17 |
|------------------------------------|------------|
| Rural Postal Life Insurance (RPLI) |    13566.3 |

- (ii) Banking Banking Services in the Department of Posts are being done as agency services on behalf  of  Ministry  of  Finance  which  provides  remuneration  for  this  work  to  the Department at the rates fixed by them from time to time. Net Savings Bank deposits

during last three years are as under:-

| Financial year   |   (Amount in crore) |
|------------------|---------------------|
| 2013-14          |              207534 |
| 2014-15          |              247816 |
| 2015-16          |              367587 |

- (e)  The  percentage  increase  in  Asset  Under  Management  (AUM)  of  PLI  and  RPLI during the last three years is detailed below:-

## (i) Insurance

| Financial year   |   % of increase in AUM of PLI from previous year* |   % of increase in AUM of RPLI from previous year* |
|------------------|---------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------|
| 2013-14          |                                             67.33 |                                              46.36 |
| 2014-15          |                                             45.53 |                                              28.01 |
| 2015-16          |                                             26.18 |                                              19.66 |

*(excluding frozen corpus)- As on date total frozen corpus under PLI  of Rs. 15344.54 crore  and  Rs.  5549.14  crore  under  RPLI  has  been  converted  in  the  Govt.  of  India Special Security Floating Rate Bond.

AUM increased due to addition of new policies, increase in premium income and income from investment of funds of PLI and RPLI.

Contd………4/-

## (ii) Banking

The  percentage  increase  in  Asset  Under  Management  (AUM)  in  respect  of Banking during the last three years is detailed below:-

| Financial year   |   %increase from previous year |
|------------------|--------------------------------|
| 2013-14          |                           5.5  |
| 2014-15          |                          19.41 |
| 2015-16          |                          48.33 |

There has been continuous increasing in the Post Office Savings Bank (POSB) deposits due to organizing Saving Bank (SB) melas and seminars for opening of new accounts both in rural and urban areas and distributing information  pamphlets. Rural population  especially  workers  registered  under  Mahatma  Gandhi  National  Rural Guarantee  Scheme  and  families  of  Below  Poverty  Line  are  also  encouraged  to promote savings by Gramin Dak Sewaks (GDS)/ Postmen through personal contact.

Contd…….5/-

Annexure A STATEMENT SHOWING PRODUCTWISE COST, REVENUE & DEFICIT/SURPLUS

| FOR THE YEAR 2012-13   | FOR THE YEAR 2012-13     | FOR THE YEAR 2012-13   | FOR THE YEAR 2012-13   | FOR THE YEAR 2012-13   | FOR THE YEAR 2012-13                     |
|------------------------|--------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------------------------|
| Sl. No.                | Name of Service          | Total Unit Cost        | Revenue per Unit       | Diffe- rence per Unit  | Deficit(-)& Surplus (+) ( Rs. In crores) |
| A                      | Traditional Services     |                        |                        |                        |                                          |
| 1                      | Post Card                | 717.90                 | 50.00                  | -667.90                | -90.47                                   |
| 2                      | Printed Post Card        | 719.21                 | 600.00                 | -119.21                | -6.55                                    |
| 3                      | Comp. Post Card          | 718.81                 | 1000.00                | 281.19                 | 0.00                                     |
| 4                      | Letter Card              | 718.32                 | 250.00                 | -468.32                | -95.42                                   |
| 5                      | Letter                   | 796.18                 | 939.39                 | 143.21                 | 86.72                                    |
|                        | REGD.NEWS PAPERS         | 0.00                   | 0.00                   | 0.00                   | 0.00                                     |
| 6                      | RNP-Single               | 1059.25                | 59.00                  | -1000.25               | -94.82                                   |
| 7                      | RNP-Bundle               | 2079.19                | 163.00                 | -1916.19               | -34.27                                   |
|                        | BOOK POST                | 0.00                   | 0.00                   | 0.00                   | 0.00                                     |
| 8                      | Book P.& S. Pkts.        | 951.18                 | 846.41                 | -104.76                | -9.35                                    |
| 9                      | Printed Books            | 1244.92                | 290.14                 | -954.78                | -57.87                                   |
| 10                     | Other Periodicals        | 1351.80                | 1535.09                | 183.29                 | 9.40                                     |
| 11                     | Parcel                   | 4658.91                | 4069.43                | -589.49                | -15.98                                   |
| 12                     | Registeration            | 4213.79                | 1700.00                | -2513.79               | -397.34                                  |
| 13                     | Value Payable Post       | 2666.20                | 456.64                 | -2209.56               | -17.30                                   |
| 14                     | Insurance                | 14182.22               | 5524.10                | -8658.13               | -12.29                                   |
| 15                     | Foreign Letter Post      | 13001.49               | 8350.24                | -4651.25               | -87.98                                   |
| 16                     | Foreign Parcel           | 620504.11              | 202321.24              | -418182.87             | -127.96                                  |
| 17                     | Acknowledgement          | 650.78                 | 300.00                 | -350.78                | -21.81                                   |
| 18                     | TRC / E Bill             | 3386.90                | 500.00                 | -2886.90               | -179.71                                  |
| B Premium Products     | B Premium Products       |                        |                        |                        |                                          |
| 19                     | Meghdoot Post Card       | 716.27                 | 25.00                  | -691.27                | -11.28                                   |
| 20                     | Business Products        | 760.87                 | 509.00                 | -251.87                | -292.70                                  |
| 21                     | Greeting Post            | 769.40                 | 1500.00                | 730.60                 | 0.09                                     |
| 22                     | Express Parcel           | 8045.82                | 9799.95                | 1754.13                | 14.12                                    |
| 23                     | Speed Post               | 5052.03                | 2803.27                | -2248.77               | -1011.94                                 |
| Financial Services     | Financial Services       |                        |                        |                        |                                          |
| 24                     | Money Order              | 8917.55                | 5819.24                | -3098.31               | -268.27                                  |
| 25                     | I.P.O.                   | 3611.05                | 338.07                 | -3272.99               | -106.57                                  |
| 26                     | Savings Bank             | 5342.75                | 3663.56                | -1679.20               | -2110.91                                 |
| 27                     | S.C. &K.V,P.             | 9974.02                | 5164.00                | -4810.02               | -398.60                                  |
| 28                     | I.V,P.                   | 2657.67                | 1367.00                | -1290.67               | -0.11                                    |
| 29                     | Rly / Telecom Pension    | 14020.87               | 8000.00                | -6020.87               | -13.63                                   |
| 30                     | Coal Mines Pension / EPF | 14088.26               | 7846.00                | -6242.26               | -0.33                                    |
| 31                     | PLI per Transaction      | 2343.10                | 2007.18                | -335.91                | -100.12                                  |
| 32                     | WUMTS                    | 16149.74               | 30206.21               | 14056.48               | 27.37                                    |
| Total A+B+C            | Total A+B+C              | Total A+B+C            | Total A+B+C            | Total A+B+C            | -5425.89                                 |

Contd……..6/-

STATEMENT SHOWING PRODUCTWISE COST, REVENUE & DEFICIT/SURPLUS

| FOR THE YEAR 2013-14   | FOR THE YEAR 2013-14     | FOR THE YEAR 2013-14   | FOR THE YEAR 2013-14   | FOR THE YEAR 2013-14   | FOR THE YEAR 2013-14                     |
|------------------------|--------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------------------------|
| Sl. No.                | Name of Service          | Total Unit Cost        | Revenue per Unit       | Diffe- rence per Unit  | Deficit(-)& Surplus (+) ( Rs. In crores) |
| A                      | Traditional Services     |                        |                        |                        |                                          |
| 1                      | Post Card                | 753.37                 | 50.00                  | -703.37                | -100.68                                  |
| 2                      | Printed Post Card        | 740.30                 | 600.00                 | -140.30                | -8.26                                    |
| 3                      | Comp. Post Card          | 741.62                 | 1000.00                | 258.38                 | 0.00                                     |
| 4                      | Letter Card              | 748.39                 | 250.00                 | -498.39                | -112.20                                  |
| 5                      | Letter                   | 826.19                 | 924.94                 | 98.75                  | 67.72                                    |
|                        | REGD.NEWS PAPERS         | 0.00                   | 0.00                   | 0.00                   | 0.00                                     |
| 6                      | RNP-Single               | 913.45                 | 41.00                  | -872.45                | -92.79                                   |
| 7                      | RNP-Bundle               | 1483.13                | 97.00                  | -1386.13               | -27.48                                   |
|                        | BOOK POST                | 0.00                   | 0.00                   | 0.00                   | 0.00                                     |
| 8                      | Book P.& S. Pkts.        | 806.15                 | 685.65                 | -120.51                | -11.77                                   |
| 9                      | Printed Books            | 1312.18                | 272.37                 | -1039.81               | -70.30                                   |
| 10                     | Other Periodicals        | 1263.57                | 1265.25                | 1.68                   | 0.10                                     |
| 11                     | Parcel                   | 5197.52                | 3645.90                | -1551.62               | -45.03                                   |
| 12                     | Registeration            | 4253.73                | 1700.00                | -2553.73               | -459.86                                  |
| 13                     | Value Payable Post       | 2465.90                | 352.40                 | -2113.50               | -20.33                                   |
| 14                     | Insurance                | 13805.84               | 4823.31                | -8982.53               | -12.19                                   |
| 15                     | Foreign Letter Post      | 16186.39               | 8928.09                | -7258.30               | -118.06                                  |
| 16                     | Foreign Parcel           | 616560.26              | 200698.20              | -415862.06             | -138.90                                  |
| 17                     | Acknowledgement          | 691.87                 | 300.00                 | -391.87                | -29.58                                   |
| 18                     | TRC / E Bill             | 3758.64                | 500.00                 | -3258.64               | -228.77                                  |
| B                      | Premium Products         | 0.00                   | 0.00                   | 0.00                   | 0.00                                     |
| 19                     | Meghdoot Post Card       | 740.23                 | 25.00                  | -715.23                | -10.20                                   |
| 20                     | Business Products        | 787.69                 | 509.00                 | -278.69                | -452.19                                  |
| 21                     | Greeting Post            | 793.07                 | 1500.00                | 706.93                 | 0.09                                     |
| 22                     | Express Parcel           | 8742.05                | 8070.28                | -671.77                | -6.46                                    |
| 23                     | Speed Post               | 5249.67                | 3710.04                | -1539.63               | -569.45                                  |
| C                      | Financial Services       | 0.00                   | 0.00                   | 0.00                   | 0.00                                     |
| 24                     | Money Order              | 8638.19                | 5464.86                | -3173.34               | -343.88                                  |
| 25                     | I.P.O.                   | 3159.99                | 393.20                 | -2766.79               | -103.38                                  |
| 26                     | Savings Bank             | 5907.00                | 4354.85                | -1552.16               | -1951.21                                 |
| 27                     | S.C. &K.V,P.             | 11024.47               | 5164.00                | -5860.47               | -500.93                                  |
| 28                     | I.V,P.                   | 2938.35                | 1367.00                | -1571.35               | -0.10                                    |
| 29                     | Rly / Telecom Pension    | 15557.66               | 8000.00                | -7557.66               | -14.42                                   |
| 30                     | Coal Mines Pension / EPF | 15632.51               | 7846.00                | -7786.51               | -0.83                                    |
| 31                     | PLI per Transaction      | 2725.56                | 2207.39                | -518.17                | -125.12                                  |
| 32                     | WUMTS                    | 17392.46               | 25084.14               | 7691.68                | 13.38                                    |

Contd……..7/-

| STATEMENT SHOWING PRODUCTWISE COST, REVENUE &DEFICIT/SURPLUS   | STATEMENT SHOWING PRODUCTWISE COST, REVENUE &DEFICIT/SURPLUS   | STATEMENT SHOWING PRODUCTWISE COST, REVENUE &DEFICIT/SURPLUS   | STATEMENT SHOWING PRODUCTWISE COST, REVENUE &DEFICIT/SURPLUS   | STATEMENT SHOWING PRODUCTWISE COST, REVENUE &DEFICIT/SURPLUS   | STATEMENT SHOWING PRODUCTWISE COST, REVENUE &DEFICIT/SURPLUS   |
|----------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------|
| FOR THE YEAR 2014-15                                           | FOR THE YEAR 2014-15                                           | FOR THE YEAR 2014-15                                           | FOR THE YEAR 2014-15                                           | FOR THE YEAR 2014-15                                           | FOR THE YEAR 2014-15                                           |
| Sl. No.                                                        | Name of Service                                                | Total Unit Cost                                                | Revenue per Unit                                               | Diffe- rence per Unit                                          | Deficit(-)& Surplus (+) ( Rs. In crores)                       |
| A                                                              | Traditional Services                                           |                                                                |                                                                |                                                                |                                                                |
| 1                                                              | Post Card                                                      | 905.04                                                         | 50.00                                                          | -855.04                                                        | -66.56                                                         |
| 2                                                              | Printed Post Card                                              | 845.07                                                         | 600.00                                                         | -245.07                                                        | -8.37                                                          |
| 3                                                              | Comp. Post Card                                                | 846.67                                                         | 1000.00                                                        | 153.33                                                         | 0.00                                                           |
| 4                                                              | Letter Card                                                    | 885.39                                                         | 250.00                                                         | -635.39                                                        | -85.33                                                         |
| 5                                                              | Letter                                                         | 1005.31                                                        | 1396.98                                                        | 391.68                                                         | 180.91                                                         |
|                                                                | REGD.NEWS PAPERS                                               | 0.00                                                           | 0.00                                                           | 0.00                                                           | 0.00                                                           |
| 6                                                              | RNP-Single                                                     | 1045.92                                                        | 44.00                                                          | -1001.92                                                       | -61.35                                                         |
| 7                                                              | RNP-Bundle                                                     | 1705.59                                                        | 90.00                                                          | -1615.59                                                       | -19.59                                                         |
|                                                                | BOOK POST                                                      | 0.00                                                           | 0.00                                                           | 0.00                                                           | 0.00                                                           |
| 8                                                              | Book P.& S. Pkts.                                              | 1096.95                                                        | 739.46                                                         | -357.50                                                        | -19.86                                                         |
| 9                                                              | Printed Books                                                  | 1352.12                                                        | 206.04                                                         | -1146.07                                                       | -45.98                                                         |
| 10                                                             | Other Periodicals                                              | 1471.22                                                        | 1235.86                                                        | -235.35                                                        | -8.13                                                          |
| 11                                                             | Parcel                                                         | 7137.00                                                        | 4845.53                                                        | -2291.47                                                       | -58.17                                                         |
| 12                                                             | Registeration                                                  | 4838.93                                                        | 1700.00                                                        | -3138.93                                                       | -573.99                                                        |
| 13                                                             | Value Payable Post                                             | 3033.45                                                        | 364.44                                                         | -2669.01                                                       | -30.27                                                         |
| 14                                                             | Insurance                                                      | 6201.24                                                        | 5215.43                                                        | -985.81                                                        | -1.39                                                          |
| 15                                                             | Foreign Letter Post                                            | 22473.67                                                       | 9677.01                                                        | -12796.67                                                      | -184.21                                                        |
| 16                                                             | Foreign Parcel                                                 | 761298.61                                                      | 184322.73                                                      | -576975.88                                                     | -228.48                                                        |
| 17                                                             | Acknowledgement                                                | 778.04                                                         | 300.00                                                         | -478.04                                                        | -17.25                                                         |
| 18                                                             | TRC / E Bill                                                   | 4006.68                                                        | 500.00                                                         | -3506.68                                                       | -180.58                                                        |
| B                                                              | Premium Products                                               | 0.00                                                           | 0.00                                                           | 0.00                                                           | 0.00                                                           |
| 19                                                             | Meghdoot Post Card                                             | 866.78                                                         | 25.00                                                          | -841.78                                                        | -6.42                                                          |
| 20                                                             | Business Products                                              | 897.13                                                         | 509.00                                                         | -388.13                                                        | -589.11                                                        |
| 21                                                             | Greeting Post                                                  | 902.53                                                         | 1500.00                                                        | 597.47                                                         | 0.04                                                           |
| 22                                                             | Express Parcel                                                 | 9928.00                                                        | 7758.09                                                        | -2169.91                                                       | -29.51                                                         |
| 23                                                             | Speed Post                                                     | 5884.67                                                        | 3688.31                                                        | -2196.35                                                       | -875.69                                                        |
| C                                                              | Financial Services                                             | 0.00                                                           | 0.00                                                           | 0.00                                                           | 0.00                                                           |
| 24                                                             | Money Order                                                    | 10457.08                                                       | 4677.65                                                        | -5779.43                                                       | -781.39                                                        |
| 25                                                             | I.P.O.                                                         | 3998.67                                                        | 364.92                                                         | -3633.75                                                       | -95.08                                                         |
| 26                                                             | Savings Bank                                                   | 6301.65                                                        | 4937.04                                                        | -1364.61                                                       | -1715.45                                                       |
| 27                                                             | S.C. &K.V,P.                                                   | 11761.04                                                       | 5164.00                                                        | -6597.04                                                       | -592.70                                                        |
| 28                                                             | I.V,P.                                                         | 3133.19                                                        | 1367.00                                                        | -1766.19                                                       | -0.09                                                          |
| 29                                                             | Rly / Telecom Pension                                          | 16583.45                                                       | 8000.00                                                        | -8583.45                                                       | -12.58                                                         |
| 30                                                             | Coal Mines Pension / EPF                                       | 16663.25                                                       | 7846.00                                                        | -8817.25                                                       | -0.82                                                          |
| 31 32                                                          | WUMTS                                                          | 18293.72                                                       | 2489.25 19542.55                                               | 1248.83                                                        | 2.17                                                           |
|                                                                | PLI per Transaction                                            | 3121.10                                                        |                                                                | -631.85                                                        | -153.42                                                        |

*********