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
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