“Forward ever, backward never: onwards with Breaking Through”

 

Income Generated through Postal Services – Increasingly earning revenues from non-traditional sectors: Lok Sabha QA

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS
DEPARTMENT OF POSTS

LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 580
TO BE ANSWERED ON 20TH JULY, 2022

INCOME GENERATED THROUGH POSTAL SERVICES

580. SHRI C.N. ANNADURAI:
SHRI DHANUSH M. KUMAR:
SHRI GAJANAN KIRTIKAR:
DR. PON GAUTHAM SIGAMANI:
Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

(a) the quantum of income generated by the Government from various postal services during each of the last three years and the current year, postal servicewise;

(b) whether India Post is increasingly earning revenues from non-traditional sectors like e- commerce and Payments Bank and if so, the details thereof;

(c) the revenues earned by the Department of Posts in terms of percentage from various value added services/ non-traditional sectors during the above period;

(d) whether the revenue generation of postal services has been declining every year and the targets for each coming year are brought down by the Government

(e) if so, the details thereof along with the corrective steps taken in this regard;

(f) whether there has been an increase in the revenue deficit of India Post over the past few years,

(g) if so, the details thereof and the corrective steps taken in this regard?

ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS (SHRI DEVUSINH CHAUHAN)

(a) The income generated by the Government from various postal services during each of the last three years and the current year is given in Annexure.

(b) Yes Sir, India Post is increasingly earning revenues from non-traditional sectors like e- commerce and Payments Bank . Parcel business of the Department is consistently rising and in the last FY, Rs 500 crore was earned through parcel business, which are majorly e-commerce items. As regards Payments Bank, the revenues of the Bank increased from Rs 213 crore in 2020-21 to Rs. 461 crore in 2021-22.

(c) The revenue earned by the Department of Posts from various value added services /non- traditional sectors during the above period are as under

Services 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22
Value added services/ Non- traditional revenue as a percentage of total revenue 16.47% 15.08% 16.22%

 

(d) Revenue of Department of Posts declined only in the year 2020-21 owing to Covid lockdown. Since then the revenues are consistently on increase.

(e) In order to generate additional revenue, Department regularly reviews its offerings and takes appropriate action including introduction of new products and services to offer value additions to make them more customer and business centric. The Department in tie- up with Government organizations is providing various citizen centric services viz. Aadhaar Enrolment and updation facilities, Post Office Passport Seva Kendra, Passenger Reservation facilities, Digital Life Certificates etc.

(f) Yes Sir,

(g) The details are furnished below:

(In crore Rupees)

Year 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21
Revenue Deficit 12416 13977 14813 17695

 

Department is taking various steps, as described at (e) above to increase the revenue of the Department. Additionally, Department is also controlling its expenditure and leveraging technology to decrease the revenue deficit.

ANNEXURE

(IN CRORES RUPEES)

S.NO Services 2019-2020 2020-2021 2021-22 2022-23 (UPTO MAY- 2022)
1 Speed Post, Parcel , Letter mails etc. 4056 2900 3650 457
2 Money Orders etc. 224 194 118 12
3 Savings Bank and Savings Certificates 8660 7056 6114 **
4 Commission/ charges received for providing services of Post Office Passport Seva Kendra, Aadhar Kendras, Railway reservation, Common Service Center etc 618 483 971 72

**Revenue of savings Bank& savings certificate is realized at the end of financial year

 

***

Source: Lok Sabha