Post Bank of India set to get shape

The department of posts is likely to finalise plans for setting up a Post Bank of India soon, to provide full banking services primarily to the rural poor, who still depend on informal credit sources.

A detailed project report is expected to be ready in a few weeks. It would bring clarity on the organisational structure of the proposed Post Bank of India, besides clarifying relationship between it and the Post Office Savings Bank, the department of posts has informed Parliament’s standing committee on information technology, in a written statement.

In July , the department of posts had appointed an external consultant to execute DPR. The assignment was given to one of the five shortlisted firms — Accenture Services, Boston Consulting Group, Ernst & Young, KPMG Advisory Services and McKinsey & Co. DPR was scheduled to be completed by December 31.

According to a report by the standing committee on information technology, the proposed Post Bank of India will be a profit-making entity that would essentially help the department of posts in reducing its deficit.

The Standing Committee, in its report, has also suggested that the Post bank of India should also provide ATM services in remote areas, besides taking core-banking facilities to the rural areas.

The committee also asked the department that it should establish the Post Bank of India within the 12th Five-Year Plan period.