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Postal dept set to go online in Pune

R. Savitha

PUNE, Sept. 18

THE Pune postal department is all set to begin a pilot project linking four States in the country with its new concept of e-post, by January, 2001.

The department has also suggested launching of this facility, initially linking Pune, Ahmednagar, Solapur and Satara districts in Maharashtra, Mr V. Sadasivam, Pune Post Master-General, told Business Line. ``The aim is to reduce the gap between wired and the wireless,'' he added.

E-posting works on the concept of providing an e-mail ID to the users, who would then send a message to the recipient.

The message is sent to the nearest post office with Internet connectivity, from where it is converted into conventional paper format and delivered to the receiver within 24 hours.

The ID will be unique to users and is similar to the pin code which is prevalent today, Mr Sadasivam said. ``The address to where it is to be delivered would have to be mentioned in the e-mail message.''

How can anyone not conversant with the Net make use of this facility? According to Mr Sadasivam, two options are placed before the users.

``One is to get the letter drafted from a professional writer and bring it to the post office and send it, or take the help of the person appointed by the post office to draft the letter,'' he said. ``Of course, this service would also carry a charge, th ough minimal.''

The Pune region, which handles about eight lakh mails per day, is all set to experiment with this concept.

Infrastructure is in place, as most postal offices are computerised. The only requirements are Internet connectivity and a unique domain name.

The investment for setting up such a project at one place would be Rs 50-75 lakh, and the Pune region is also looking at various multilingual packages to help reach out the message, Mr Sadasivam said.

He also said that to increase value addition of e-posting, the post office is coming out with virtual cards of different rupee denominations.

These cards work on a concept similar to that of debit card, wherein a user can log in and type the security number provided to him by the post office to find out the balance amount, which is flashed on the screen.

Users can they e-mail messages, after which the amount would be deducted.

Users wanting to have denominations totalling more than Rs. 50,000 would have to go to the post office and open a account, which in postal terminology would be a `major account'.

``The post office would also allow online registration for the same,'' he added.

Another value addition on the anvil is e-commerce, wherein buying and selling of products would take place.

For this, users can place orders at the post office, and once the material is handed over to the consumer, they can pay the amount at the post office.

``This gives confidence to the supplier as also to the buyer, as an institution is helping them do it,'' Mr Sadasivam said.