India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) is planning to expand its reach this year and have decided to open 650 branches this year.
The first two branches of IPPB have been opened in January 2017 in Ranchi and Raipur.
“We intend to open at least one branch per district across the country. Each branch will be networked with about 1200 to 1500 post offices in a district,’’ said B V Sudhakar, secretary, department of posts, Government of India.
There are 978 standalone ATMs for the Department now. The payment bank is also expected to install more ATMs with tie-ups with other banks.
“By December 2017, we will integrate core system software including core banking, postal operations and savings bank which will also help us,” he added.
The department will also be recruiting 55,000 Gramin Dak Savekas in rural areas out of which the process for filling up of 14,406 vacancies has already commenced.
“Speed post facility will be made available in all branch post offices across the country by end of April,’’ Sudhakar said.
The revenue from speed post services had gone up from Rs 1605 crore during 2015-16 to Rs 1740 crore in 2016-17.
The issue of passports in post offices have commenced in January 2017. So far 31,500 passports have been issued.
India Post is also expecting to bridge the gap between revenue and expenditure in next two years with a slew of initiatives being taken. For 2015-16, it reported a revenue of Rs 13,000 crore and an expenditure of Rs 19,000 crore.
