Mumbai: Faced with opposition from the Finance Ministry to India Post
getting into banking fray, Communications Minister Kapil Sibal on Friday said
his department will battle it out to ensure that it gets a lender's licence.
"We have been trying very hard to persuade the Finance Ministry and we are
yet to go some way to convert the Postal Department into a post bank. We have
been fighting this battle and we are not going to give it up till we reach a
logical conclusion," he told reporters after inaugurating the Postal
Department's National Data Centre at Navi Mumbai near here.
When asked about the Finance Ministry's opposition to the idea of India Post
turning into a bank, Sibal sounded optimistic of reaching a favourable
conclusion, saying his Ministry will take this to the Cabinet which will
resolve the issue. But he did not say when he will do so.
The RBI is processing applications for banking licences from among 25 entities,
including the Department of Posts and top corporates like Aditya Birla Groups
and Anil Ambani Group.
The Postal Department's contention is that it can leverage its reach of over
1.55 lakh post offices across the country. Of these, 1.4 lakh are in rural
areas. "The only department that can do financial inclusion is the Postal
Department," Sibal claimed.
Sibal said a host of services like insurance premia payments, wages
distribution and most importantly, avenues of saving will be possible as a
result of banking foray. Sibal also announced that on February 5, India Post
will be launching automated teller machines for postal savings bank account
holders in New Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai.
The Postal Department's National Data Centre, spread over 3,000 sq ft and
located at the Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City, will act as the nerve centre of
all postal services, including savings, insurance and speed posts tracking.
As of March 2013, the postal savings stood at a whopping Rs 6.05 trillion,
which is half the deposits of the largest lender State Bank of India, and double
that of the largest lender ICICI Bank.
Padmini Gopinath, Secretary in the Postal Department, said irrespective of the
fate of its banking licence bid, the number of ATMs will be ramped up to 3,000
by September 2015.
She said initially, ATMs will be limited to being used by the postal department
savings scheme. But within six months of the launch, the department is hopeful
of getting inter- operability and join the national financial switch.
"Within six months of the launch, you will be able to use other banks' ATM
cards to withdraw from our ATMs and our account holders to go to other
companies' ATMs."
Asked about the progress on its banking licence and if her department has heard
anything on it from RBI, Gopinath replied in the negative. She, however, said
there is no point in taking any outcome for granted.
The department, which has hired consultancy firm Ernst & Young to prepare
its banking foray blueprint, will make a representation wherever required,
Gopinath added.
Courtesy: Zee News
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