PUNE: The
department of posts recently stopped services under the 'post office-on-wheels'
initiative due to poor response and lack of revenue. It had introduced two
postal vans which would cover various locations in the city to offer doorstep
postal services.
These services were stopped in phases in the last six months due to poor
response. "Though the initiative clicked in the initial phase and citizens
welcomed the idea, for last one year, there has been a considerable drop in the
response and daily earnings. A decision was taken to stop these services after
reviewing the response and revenue generation," officials in the
administration said.
Pune was the first city in the state to have such a service. The department
would announce the schedules of the two vehicles for every week for the benefit
of members of the public from respective areas. The vehicle would work in two
shifts in a day to cover important residential colonies and roads. The
vehicle's staff was authorized to handle postal business, including various
e-enabled services, opening of new post office saving accounts, issue of
certificates, sale of postcards, inland letters and envelops. "We have
stopped the services as of now. There is no plan to restart them
immediately," officials said.
Meanwhile, officials said four new franchise post offices had begun functioning
in the city in the last 10 months to cater to the requirements of citizens.
These offices have commenced in newly developed residential areas of the
fringes including Katraj, Narhe, Chinchwad and Bhosari. Besides, a new post
office was started in Nighoj area located in Manchar in Pune district.
The franchise postal outlets offer services like any other post office. The
outlets have been opened as per requirement wherein people can purchase postal
stationery. The project has been working in the city successfully for the last
few years. The department identified the areas to extend postal services
through franchise outlets, officials said.
According to the officials, there was no proposal to open a new post office in
the city area in the current financial year. In fact, steps were initiated to
relocate existing staff to other locations to make sure that postal delivery
reached customers on time. There are over 60 delivery post offices working
under Pune circle.
The Scheme
Counter services are franchised through the franchise scheme, while delivery
and transmission will be through the department. The franchisee will provide
service across the counter for a minimum defined time schedule with flexibility
to work round-the-clock.
# New franchise offices at Katraj, Narhe, Chinchwad, Bhosari
# Relocation of existing staff to new offices
//copy// BBSR
