Department of Posts to seek Cabinet nod for Rs 1,900 crore funds

Department of Posts to move cabinet note to apply for bank licence

NEW DELHI:  Department of Posts  has started inter-ministerial consultations for seeking Cabinet approval on around Rs 1,900 crore fund requirement to start Post Banks in the country. "DoP will need around Rs 1,900 crore to start Post Banks in the country. This includes Rs 500 crore paid-up capital required under new banking licence guidelines and rest is for other capital adequacy norms that Post Banks will need to fulfil. Cabinet note has gone to various ministries to seek their views," a government official told PTI.  The Department of Posts (DoP) has plans to apply for banking licence to offer full-fledged banking services along with postal services through post offices.  The RBI has issued comprehensive guidelines for new bank licences. It has fixed July 1 as the last date for filing application by interested entities. The DoP has proposed to start 50 bank branches in the first year and scale it to a total of 150 branched in 5 years.  There are around 90,000 bank branches in the country and provision of real-time banking services through postal network is estimated to triple the current banking network.  Finance Minister P.Chidambaram in this year's Budget speech said Post offices will become part of the core banking solution ( CBS)  and offer real time banking services. He proposed provision of Rs 532 crore for the project in 2013-14.  The Post Banks are proposed to be owned by DoP but with a completely independent board, governance structure and operations. It will have representation from Ministries of Finance and Communication & IT.  "The branches in first phase will be opened in tier 1 to even very small cities with foucs on rural and retail micro, small and medium enterprises," the official said.  India postal network has 1,54,822 post offices in the country. Of these, 1,39,086 are in rural areas and 15,736 are in urban regions. //timesofindia.indiatimes.com 09.06.13//

MUMBAI: The  DoP will move a Cabinet note in order to apply for a banking license by the stipulated deadline of July 1, a sr.  official has said, even as a top Finance Ministry  went public with doubts over the efficacy of the post office being converted into a bank.  "We are moving a cabinet note now and after that we will be applying for the licence. After the cabinet note, we will go ahead with setting up the bank," Postal Services Board's member, planning, SuneetaTrivedi, told PTI here.  Trivedi asserted that the Department will be making the application by July 1, which is the last date set by the Reserve Bank for receiving applications.  The department of Posts has engaged consultancy firm Ernst & Young for helping it at the application stage by creating the "whole concept" of the bank and has already gathered all the know-how to enter the fray.  However, Dept. of Fin. Services secretary,  Raajiv Takru seemed to be not so much interested at the prospect of India Posts entering the banking fray.  There is a lot more to banking than merely having the reach and opening savings  accounts, he told reporters, adding that it also involves very complex things at the back end and seemed to suggest that a Japan-like case, where the postal department has a bank, may not work in the country. When asked about the same, Trivdei said, "We have worked out all on the know how, about everything. There is nothing like that" and added that there is no rethink on the part of the Postal department.  Sector watchers suggest that if financial inclusion is the ultimate aim in granting new licences in this round, the entry of the department will be highly beneficial to the agenda being pursued by the Reserve Bank and the Government. //pti: 09.06.13//