Postcards incurring loss of about Rs 7 per unit, sales dip

Postcards, the traditional mode of communication, are seeing a gradual decline in sales and incurring a loss of about Rs 7 per unit to government, amid the growing use of mobile phones and emails for personal communications.
"The sale of Postcards has gradually decreased over the last decade. The decline is due to rapid development of communications technology by way of increased usage of mobile phones , emails etc., for personal communications," Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said in the Lok Sabha today.
A postcard, which sells for 50 paise apiece, incurred a loss of Rs 6.68 per unit to government in 2012-13. The total loss stood at Rs 90.47 crore. Government printed 9.56 crore postcards in that year.

The government increased the number of postcards to 10.44 crore in 2013-14. The loss figure was not shared in the reply.
For current year, government has printed 8.13 crore postcards.
In 2010-11 and 2011-12, loss from postcards were Rs 6.99 and Rs 6.85 per unit, as per the data shared by the Minister.