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Don't post it...er... the `card'

Dinesh Narayanan

MUMBAI, Oct. 11

THE postman's role in the everyday life of the common man may get larger if the postal department successfully implements a proposal currently on the drawing board. The Department of Posts (DoP) is mulling over a proposal to introduce a pre-paid, `omnibu s card.'

According to the plan, the postman will double up as a bill collector -- a single payment point for all bills for an omnibus cardholder, that too at his door-step.

The postman will carry a hand-held device to swipe the card held by the customer. At the end of the day, he will connect the device to a computer at the post office which will allocate the credits to the appropriate accounts.

Top DoP officials said the system would allow customers to pay ``all'' bills. The card could also serve as an ATM card and debit card at a later stage.

But initially, it would just be a card which can be ``loaded'' with cash at the post office.

According to the officials, talks are on with a Mumbai-based company for the technical and gadgetry requirements. A few banks such as ICICI Bank and UTI Bank are also in touch with the department to utilise their ATM network, they said.

The service may be introduced, some time next fiscal, as a pilot project in the 202 post offices across four States where e-post is being launched. To start the project, these post offices would begin bill collection over the counter.

There are, however, several marketing and infrastructural issues that have to be sorted out, an official said.

He said a major issue is convincing entities to tie up with the department for such a novel facility, especially since it involves a lot of free float of funds. ``We may have to compensate for the float,'' he added.

The ultimate aim is to become the issuer of a card that could bring in huge volumes of business to the department and convenience to customers by leveraging the unparalleled network of post offices in the country.

The official said the postal department is exploring various ways centred around leveraging its network to reduce its deficit.

The department has a network of 1,54,000 post offices -- including 23,000 in urban centres -- across the country.