Monday, August 5, 2013

IS POST BANK A MIRAGE TO POSTAL EMPLOYEE ?

POST BANK OF INDIA


Eventhough full details of the proposed Post Bank of India is not made public, it is learnt that

(1) Post Bank will be a public sector Bank under the control of Department of Posts as a subsidiary organization. It will function as a Bank separately, just like any other public sector Banks. All Banking Rules and Regulations will be equally applicable to Post Bank also.

(2) Recruiting personnel for running the Bank will be done in the same manner as being done by public sector Banks. Open market recruitment will be made. Existing Postal Employees will not be considered for appointment in the Post Bank.

(3) The Post office Savings Bank will remain as it is and do business as is being done now. Post Bank will be a separate entity.

(4) Full details are yet to be published.

(M. Krishnan)
General Secretary

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ஏற்கனவே இது குறித்து நாம் வெளியிட்ட பத்திரிக்கை செய்தி 22.7.13 மற்றும் 29.7.13  - இத்துடன் இணைத்துப் பார்த்தால் உண்மை ஓரளவு உங்களுக்கு புரிய வரும் .
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Government allots Rs 1,300 cr to Post Bank



NEW DELHI: The expenditure department has decided to sanction Rs 1,300 crore to the proposed Post Bank of India to meet its capital requirements even as the department of financial services (DFS) - the wing in the finance ministry that deals with state-run banks and their poliiies – chose to stay away from the   issue.

The proposal's backing by the expenditure finance commission and its subsequent green light by finance minister       P Chidambaram is seen as the official go-ahead by the finance ministry, ignoring the DFS's stance. The DFS position is seen as the first instance of the agency not backing the Post Bank's plan, which officers in the department have privately mocked at.

"They think they can use the postal deposit model for their banking foray. Nothing in their plan seems to be clear. Banking isn't easy," said an officer, who did not wish to be identified. In fact, a strong Post Bank is seen to be the biggest challenge to existing public sector banks, including State Bank of India, which controls 70% of the banking business in the country. SBI, the largest lender, has a little less than 15,000 branches, while there are over 1.5 lakh post offices across the country.

Although Post Bank does not intend to open a bank branch in each post office, the plan is to use postmen to meet the financial inclusion goal. Secretary (posts) P Gopinath refused to speak to TOI despite several attempts.

According to the plan, Post Bank will have 50 branches in the first year, which will be increased to 150 by the fifth year. The branches will be located in select Head Post Offices in Tier-1-4 centres and select Sub-Post Offices in Tier-5-6 centres.

To meet RBI norms, the postal department proposes to set up a new entity - Post Bank of India - that will have an independent board and separate operations. Apart from independent directors, the board will have representatives from the finance ministry and the postal department. Separate recruitment has been planned to have specialist bankers.

While converting the entire postal network would have meant a capital requirement of over Rs 60,000 crore, by setting up a special entity, the fund requirement has been reduced.
This, officers said, will also help create a more focused strategy.


Source : THE TIMES OF INDIA  dated 22/07/2013


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வங்கிக் கனவு யாருக்கு ?
தனியாருக்கா ?அரசுக்கா ?
அரசு அதிகாரிகளுக்கா ? 
அரசு ஊழியருக்கா ? 

வங்கி துவங்கி 51% அதன் பங்குகள் தனியாருக்கு அல்லது அந்நியக் கம்பெனிகளுக்கு PUBLIC SHARE என்ற பெயரில் கொடுக்கப் படும் என்று அரசு அதிகாரி கூறுகிறார் ! 5% NLC பங்குகளையே தனியாருக்கு விற்கக் கூடாது ; முடிந்தால் மாநில அரசே அதனை வாங்கி பொதுத் துறையைக் காக்க வேண்டும் என்று நாம் வேண்டும் போது , அஞ்சல் வங்கி நிலைமை எப்படியாகும் என்று நாம் யோசிக்க வேண்டும் !

Next time you go to the Post Office, it may well turn out to be a bank

Dept of Post has moved a Cabinet note with the govt providing Rs 500 cr as seed capital to India Post, the minimum requirement


A long-pending dream of  to have banking operations is now taking a final shape. The  has moved a Cabinet note with the government providing Rs 500 crore as seed capital to India Post for this purpose. This is the minimum paid up capital required under the final norms for banking licenses put up by the Reserve  of India.
 
Financial help from the government is needed since India Post ran a deficit of Rs 5,805.9 crore in 2011-12, though 8.5% lower than Rs 7,899.3 crore in the previous year.
 
India Post plans to start banking operations in 50 branches, a key official said. 

The official said all the initial work on applying for a banking license to  has been completed and the only task left now is to formally submit its application. 

The deadline for submitting applications is July one and in between only two working days are left. 

"Our officer is in Mumbai and we will file the application before the deadline," the official said.

When asked that it would be too costly an affair to convert a  into a bank, the official explained that both post office work of India Post and banking operations will simultaneously exist.

She said India Post can always squeeze a little space in its existing post offices. "We can give the bank a completely different branding and so the bank and post office can coexist ," she said.

"That little space for bank branches will be built from the scratch. But, the existing infrastructure across 1,50,000 post offices will be leveraged. We are naturally the most fit candidate to open a bank as no one can match the department's reach," the official said.

She said India Post has around 1,50,000 post offices, while all the other bank branches combined would come to around 50,000 only. 

"So, other aspirants have a reason to worry, but we qualify RBI's eligibility criteria in all respects," the official said. 

When other private banks can have a lean and mean approach in terms of bank branches and can still be successful, so can India Post, the official asserted. 

But, the idea is to not to open branches across all the 1,50,000 post offices, but have a selective play. "If we cover the entire network, it will be too extensive, therefore we will open in places where there are not other banks etc. And our post man could act as a banking correspondent enabled with micro-ATMs," she said.

To become a bank, India post will have to restructure its shareholdingThere is a stipulation in the RBI's norms that promoter companies of entities wishing to set up banks should be 51% held by the public. At present, India post is 100% government of India holding.

India Post has long nursed an ambition to start a bank, called Post Bank of India. 

Earlier, the finance ministry is understood to have opposed India Post’s plan as the postal service doesn’t have the expertise needed in relevant areas, such as handling credit.

The Department of Post has a few savings instruments like post office savings scheme, besides acting as a distributor for mutual fund companies. It also has a life insurance scheme— Postal Life Insurance.

India Post's plans will also help the UPA’s ambitious Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT) Scheme as the programme falters because of poor last mile connectivity of banks.

The official said the banking correspondent model as enshrined in DBT will be performed by postman. He will get an additional commission of 0.07% over and above his regular salary for every new deposit.  The official said that moves are also afoot to link all post office branches with core banking solutions (CBS), which would further enable them to function as a full-fledged bank.

courtesy.... BUSINESS STANDARD .. JUne 29, 2013