Minister for Communications Manoj Sinha on Monday said the government is working on setting up 650 branches of India Post Payments Bank and is also gearing up to provide its financial services through all 1.55 lakh post offices.

Speaking on the occasion of World Post Day, he said the Indian Postal Department is undergoing major transformation with changing times, be it the inter-operability of ATMs, core banking or providing of Passport Seva and Aadhaar enrolment. He said so far 57 post offices are providing Passport Seva and 93 more will be added to the list soon.

Sinha launched International Tracked Packet service designed specially to meet the cross-border requirements of e-commerce sector in Asia-Pacific Region. He said, at the beginning, the service will be available to 12 countries and gradually the whole world will be covered. This new service has many special features like affordable price, track and trace, volume discounts, pick up facility, compensation for loss or damage and, therefore, high value for money.

He said with the launch of this service, the Department of Posts is set to start a new chapter of close collaboration between the post office and the business in India that want to reach to their customers abroad.

The Minister also launched e-IPO (Indian Postal Order) in the denominations of Rs. 10, Rs 20, Rs 50  and Rs 100, as a pilot project in Bihar, Delhi and Karnataka and said that in the next two months, the service will cover the entire country. e-IPO will be used for all purposes like fee payment for RTI/ educational institutions, court and online registration for cable pperators. A customer can purchase e-IPO online from one’s home or workplace, as per one’s convenience. This launch is a part of Digital India Initiative as the payment will be made through debit or credit cards or net banking. eIPO can be purchased online at:https://www.epostoffice.gov.in or, it can also be accessed through a link at the Official website of India Post i.e. http://www.indiapost.gov.in

Sinha also unveiled the revamped website of India Post which has been made more user-friendly and informative.