Postal department ties
up with online retailers – The Hindu News
Don’t be surprised if your neighbourhood
postman delivers products you have ordered online, along with letters.
The department of posts has recently tied up
with various online shopping portals to offer delivery services.
With e-commerce growing by leaps and bounds,
the postal department, which has a widespread reach, particularly in rural
areas, will bridge the gap in logistics.
The department has tied up with major
e-commerce players, including Amazon, Flipkart, Shopping Zone India and
Naaptol, to help ramp up their delivery system.
“We are also in the process of tying up with
smaller online players. We are delivering more than 80 per cent of the products
ordered online to customers across the State on behalf of some e-commerce
firms,” said an official.
A tie-up with another major online market
firm, Snapdeal, is also under way. Soon, customers need not necessarily visit
the nearest philatelic bureau to buy stamps as Snapdeal will also offer
philatelic stamps and first covers of the postal department.
In Chennai and its suburbs, nearly 2,300
postmen, postwomen and gram dak sevaks (who are part-time staff members) attached
to 110 post offices will be involved in delivering goods through various modes,
including cash-on-delivery. T. Murthy, chief postmaster general, Tamil
Nadu circle, said: “We have set up a dedicated parcel-handling unit in
Ekkaduthangal where the products are sorted and dispatched to various places.
We have the capacity to handle over 40,000 parcels daily.” The department now
handles nearly 28,000 parcels daily and delivers across the State. Of these,
about 30 per cent is delivered in and around Chennai.
“We deliver in a day from the date of booking,
in Chennai, and in a maximum of four days in remote areas. We are processing
the requests of many other e-commerce firms too,” said Mr. Murthy.
