Emerging as a leading
distribution channel for the e-commerce sector, India Post collected
over Rs 800 crore through cash-on-delivery (CoD) facility and is looking
to further strengthen its position in the segment by starting a pilot
service for same-day delivery.
The postal department has also earned around Rs 70-80 crore through speed post in the year 2014-15 from e-commerce business.
Since the introduction
of CoD facility, the Department of Post has collected more than Rs 800
crore and remitted to customers," an official said.
In order to generate
more business, the postal department is reviewing its service features
to attract more number of e-commerce customers, the official further
said.
"As part of this
exercise, the Department of Posts has started pilot for same/next day
delivery in identified cities for identified PIN codes. A national
account facility has also been introduced under Speed Post," he added.
The CoD facility was
launched in December 2013 to cater to the needs of customers and
benefits from the growing e-commerce market.
The CoD has emerged as
one of the most sought after services for e-commerce entities. Customers
in the country tend to prefer CoD as the online payment modes are yet
to catch up in many parts of the country while many people are not
comfortable with advance payments for products purchased online.
The initiatives taken by the department for parcel segment have resulted in revenue of Rs 105.51 crore in 2014-15.
With dwindling letter or
document traffic, the department is focusing on the fast-growing parcel
segment and various measures have been taken to modernise the
department under the Digital India initiative.
As part of initiatives
to leverage the e-commerce sector, the department has forged tie-ups
with leading online market places like Snapdeal, Amazon, Paytm and Yepme
for parcel delivery and has also set up modernised 48 centres to handle
the packages.
The e-commerce sector in
India is growing at 47 per cent CAGR and India Post is the only
delivery agency with a pan-India reach, the official said.
Communications and IT
Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had earlier said that India Post with the
world's largest postal network was best suited to offer delivery
services to e-commerce firms.
The Minister had suggested that India Post should strive to become the largest player in the e-commerce segment.
The Postal Department
has 1,54,882 post offices, of which 1,39,182 are in rural areas. The
department employs around 4,60,000 personnel and handles close to six
billion mail pieces in a year.
Source: Business-standard.com
Source: Business-standard.com
