India Post: Thinking Out of The Post Box

A visit to a post office may not exactly be going back in time, but provides a glimpse of an institution struggling to maintain its relevance in an era of giant tech leaps in communication such as email and WhatsApp. Often the post offices are housed in quaint old buildings of 1960s or 70s vintage and surrounded with trees and moss ridden exteriors. The austere internal decor reflects the bygone era of licence-permit raj, when all signs of opulence were frowned upon.

The paint is either faded or falling off thanks to seepage during rains, ceiling fans hooked to longish rods whirr vigorously with a rat-a-tat sound. The window panes may either have cracks or even have few shards missing and ventilators often double up as long term haunts of homing pigeons.

As for office furniture - steel almirahs and racks as old as the office building grace the background. Files with lavish toppings of dust, lying undisturbed for months or even years, adorn these cabinets. The papers too have mellowed with age to off white colour.

As a semblance of modernity the computers have made inroads into post offices, but they too look primitive with boxy monitors, which the greying workforce handles in an ill at ease manner.

These offices had seen much better days in the past with milling crowds and constant hustle and bustle. Those manning counters selling inland letters and post cards had a tough time handling the rush and acrimonious exchange with customers over loose change. The sale of postage stamps used to spike during festival seasons as usage of greeting cards was very much in vogue.

Services like money order and telegrams were lifeline for transfer of money and urgent news respectively. Lastly, postal employees used to enjoy huge clout and any threat of going on strike used to rattle the government of the day and communication ministry in particular.

The coming of private courier services began proving a threat to its mail and parcel services. The proliferation of world wide web and email inflicted a body blow to mail services. It was just a beginning - later a torrent of other web based services like messenger, and fall in mobile phone tariffs pushed mail services to museum piece status and acquired a derisive sobriquet - snail mail.

Some of its services like Telegram had to be shuttered as they were no longer viable. The ubiquitous post boxes have now dwindled drastically. There are few takers for Money Order service as there are far better and faster options for money transfer through banks and money transfer firms. For the i-Phone and i-Pad generation an inland letter or a postage stamp is something to be procured for a school project. It used to be essential stationery for nearly every literate middle class household in the country till 1990s.

However it will be naive to believe that this 150 year old institution is now terminally ill and counting its last days. With 150,000 post offices across the country it is now trying to reinvent itself as a quasi banking platform especially aimed at those residing in small towns and rural areas. It is even angling for a banking licence.

The post office deposit scheme still commands great trust among traditional risk-averse investors. And government is making efforts to make them more attractive. However if it wishes to become an aggressive contender, it needs to drastically overhaul its technologically challenged set up.

It will have to replicate the modernisation undertaken by its close cousins - the PSU banks. While some of the old timers may be content with passbooks and paper certificates of National Savings Scheme, it will have to network its post offices and issue smart cards and other easy interoperability facilities to attract new customers. Competitive interest rates may not be enough. 

Also Read: Bangalore Beat