After failing to receive a full-fledged banking licence from the Reserve Bank
of India (RBI) last year, the department of post is gearing up for a second
innings.
Now, India Post is looking to set up a payments bank and is expected to put
in fresh application, sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.
“India Post may look at setting up a payments bank for which it will have to
apply again, after which the RBI will go through its own process to assess
whether or not it is eligible,” a senior government official told HT. The
exercise could take a while, he added.
A payments bank can accept deposits and remit but cannot lend. The move would
help in deepening the financial inclusion programme, sources added.
The government is grappling with the problem to delink post office savings
deposits from its fiscal deficit management programme.
Interest rates on post office savings are administered by the government,
unlike commercial banks, where interest rates are market determined.
If post offices are converted into banks, they will have to offer competitive
interest rates to depositors. Besides it remains to be seen whether all bank
deposits are offered tax treatment, similar to post office savings, once the
postal department is given a banking licence.
While the RBI did not grant a banking licence to India Post earlier this
year, it said that the postal department and the government should look at the
issue separately.
The department, for the last few years, has remained in the red due to high
operational costs. It has been losing business due to competition from private
couriers, usage of mobile telephony and Internet. However, it has over 150,000
branches across India and most of them are in rural areas.
Source : http://www.hindustantimes.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment