Sunday, 3 April 2016
Saturday, 2 April 2016
10 Interesting Facts About India Post
India has the largest postal network in the world with 1,54,939 post offices as on March 31, 2015, of which 1,39,222 (89.86%) are in the rural areas. At the time of independence there were 23,344 post offices.
Following are some interesting revelations from India Post’s annual report 2015-16.
- The government has decided to digitise 1.5 lakh post offices across the country, which includes 1.3 lakh post offices in rural areas.
- One can buy exclusive collection of postal stamps offered by India Post on e-commerce websites like Snapdeal and Shopclues. Philatelic products are also available at e-post office – an e-commerce portal of India Post. Through its e-commerce portal, India Post also provides select postal facilities using the web. The department has generated revenue of Rs 24.31 lakh between April 2015 and December 2015 by selling postal stamps.
- India is one of the earliest active members of the Universal Postal Union (UPU), a specialised agency of the United Nations, having its headquarters at Berne, Switzerland.
- There are more than 33.03 crore account holders of the savings scheme of the department.
- The outstanding balance under all the savings schemes and saving certificates in Post Offices are over Rs 6,19,317.44 crore.
- Money transfer service of India Post enables instant international money remittance to customers in India sent from 195 countries on real time basis. This service is operational in association with Western Union from 9,942 post office locations and MoneyGram through 6,070 post office locations.
- To ensure safe and timely delivery of goods, the department has signed an agreement for supply and installation of GPS devices in 990 mail vans. GPS devices have already been installed in 926 mail vans.
- India Post ATMs have been installed in more than 500 locations across the country.
- The department has earned revenue of Rs 2,247 crore during the period April 2015 to December 2015 registering a growth of 15% compared to corresponding period last year.
- The department has 38 heritage buildings having architectural value.
7th Pay Commission Latest News – CG Employees Have to Wait a Little Longer – Cabinet Secretary assured that fair consideration will be given to all points brought out by JCM before taking a final view.
7th Pay Commission Latest News – CG employees have to wait a little longer for the 7th pay Commission bonanza announced in November last year, as the Empowered Committee of Secretaries (E-CoS) headed byCabinet Secretary PK Sinha wants to address various concerns raised by the Joint Consultative Machinery (JCM) before taking a final call on the recommendations of the commission. The empowered committee with 12 secretaries on board was set up on January 27 to process the recommendations of the Seventh Central Pay Commission.
In a recent meeting attended by Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi, Defence Secretary G Mohan Kumar withCabinet Secretary and others, JCM representatives raised the concerns over pay commission recommendations on minimum pay and allowances saying it will cause difficulty to the employees.
It is learnt that the Cabinet Secretary also asked the E-CoS members to hold interactions with their staff associations and other stakeholders to expedite the process.
“Cabinet Secretary assured that fair consideration will be given to all points brought out by JCM before taking a final view. He also said that E-CoS needs to examine the report of the commission in entirety as well as the issues raised by JCM in consultation with all other stakeholders. It may take some time to take some time to take a final call on the recommendations of the commission,” a government note said.
The empowered committee was told by staff representatives that the minimum pay of Rs.18,000 pm recommended by the pay commission was on the lower side and needed to be revised upward by taking into account inflation and appropriately considering social obligations and housing of the staff.
A major concern has been raised with Cabinet Secretary on the NPS saying that it should be done away with. The staff associations have argued that employees governed by the NPS are deprived of family pension and do not have the provision of PF.
Source: Indian Express
Government proposing that ATMs should not be replenished with cash after 8 PM
NEW DELHI : ATMs could soon disappoint if you need cash at the dead of the night.The government is proposing that ATMs should not be replenished with cash after 8 PM in cities and private cash transportation agencies must collect cash from the banks in the first half of the day for replenishing ATMs.
Also, specially designed cash vans, fitted with CCTV and GPS, must not carry more than Rs 5 crore per trip. Two armed guards and driver in each van must be trained to "disengage with the situation and drive vehicle to safety" in case of an attack - these men at time of getting the job must produce two guarantors, one of them a government servant. These are part of a new guidelines and risk mitigation procedures the government is proposing for secured cash movement by leading private players in the industry.
Nearly 8000 privately owned cash vans ferry around Rs 15000 Cr daily between banks, currency chests and ATSs - they also hold nearly Rs 5000 Cr overnight in their private cash vaults on behalf of the banks. These has been a spurt in attacks, hijacking and looting of cash vans which are seen as soft targets.
The government has proposed that for replenishment in ATMs, cash transportation agencies must collect cash from the bank in the first half of the day and no cash loading of the ATMs or cash movement should be done after 8 PM in urban centers across India. The deadline for rural areas would be 5 PM, and 3PM in Naxal-affected districts.
Per trip, a cash van cannot carry more than Rs 5 crore, the new SOPs have proposed. Specially designed and secure cash vans must be compulsorily deployed for carrying cash over Rs 5 lakh per trip, the Centre says. Such vans must have two independent compartments, with the one for storing cash to be separated and locked from passenger compartment and the cash compartment being specially reinforced with steel and only one door which can be opened internally through a manual or electronic lock.
The cash boxed must also be secured to the van floor with separate chains and padlocks with their keys entrusted to separate custodians.
Antecedents of private guards and drivers hired by private security agencies must be verified by police and each such individual be asked to produce two guarantors of "good standing", including one serving or retired government servant, at the time of getting the job.
They must be trained comprehensively over 160 hours before being put on the job - specifically to spot threats and risks like being tailed by vehicle-borne criminals, insider's threat and how to use weapons to deter and resist criminals while disengaging with the situation and driving vehicle to safety.
Private vaults used by agencies to store cash overnight must also be set up in secured places with strong rooms set up as per RBI norms and fitted with CCTVs.
Friday, 1 April 2016
Investor rush to lock into high rates crashes computers at Post Offices
MUMBAI / NEW DELHI: Computer systems of post offices across the country have been hit by unprecedented year-end rush to open new public provident fund and senior citizen scheme accounts and deposit money in existing accounts, prompting the government to order contingency measures such as acceptance of deposits offline.
On Monday, the computer system connecting the country's 20,500 post offices — which reopened after a four-day holiday — witnessed a major slowdown, prompting the new set of instructions that speeded up processing. There were fresh glitches on Tuesday that inconvenienced depositors but officials said the problem was resolved by late afternoon. A fresh set of instructions on accepting reinvestment would be issued on Wednesday.
While there is always a year-end rush to claim tax benefits on investments, this time the problem is more acute due to the four-day holiday and the government's decision to lower interest rates on small saving schemes by more than a percentage point in some cases. With those putting money in Monthly Income Scheme, Senior Citizen Schemes or National Savings Certificate assured of locking in their investment at a higher rate for the next few years, the queues are longer this year.
Adding to the post office woes was the fast rollout of core banking platform across the country, which had been facing problems as it had not yet stabilized. The post office has been migrating all savings accounts on to the core banking system. The number of computerized post offices has increased to 12,000 in December 2015 from 2,000 at the end of December 2014. And in the last two-and-a-half months, it has grown to 20,000 from 12,000.
"We have allowed all post offices to accept deposits offline. This will free up a lot of capacity for withdrawals and reinvestment, which need to be checked from the system. We are trying to ensure that we are able to deliver service to everyone," said L N Sharma, India Post's deputy director general in charge of financial services. He added that any investor who faces a problem should contact the Superintendent through the post office as systems have been put in place to escalate the problem at the department of posts.
Customers in various states, including Maharashtra, Delhi, Gujarat, Telangana, Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, complained of computer downtime in post offices. "It looks like the post office is also having some problem with reconciliation of their numbers. Several people have received communication asking them to check whether interest is being correctly credited into their accounts," said a small savings agent.
Some customers have complained that their names were inputted incorrectly resulting in reviving certificates with spelling mistakes. There were concerns that this could lead to problems while withdrawing funds a decade later. In Maharashtra, the Postmaster General at Pune said that the Finacle core banking system, set up by Infosys, was experiencing problems due to which members of public were facing difficulties in conducting their transactions.
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