CHENNAI, October 4, 2014
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.
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