The next time you want to know whether the consignment sent by speed post has been delivered to it's destination, or about the intricacies of investing in the postal savings bank accounts, just pick up the phone and call the Department of Posts call centre.
The department is planning to shed it's sarkari image and get on to the BPO bandwagon by starting a dedicated call centre to provide information to people about the status of delivery of their mail.
Senior officials told Hindustan Times that the proposal has been cleared in principle and a final decision would be taken soon.
Though the call centre will primarily deal with premium (revenue generating) transport services like express parcel post, speed post and logistics posts, it will also provide general information on other products like money orders and National Savings Certificates (NSC) offered by the department.
The service may be expanded in the future to deal with complaints regarding other services like money orders.
The service may be expanded in the future to deal with complaints regarding other services like money orders.
Under the system, customers can call the call centre to know the status of the mail delivery.
The call centre employees will get the relevant information from the concerned post office and pass it on to the customer.
Said AP Srivastava, Post Master General (Mumbai region), "In case the proposal comes through, it will provide a single window system for answering queries and for tracking mail. It will also help disseminate information about various products of the department."
The department may rope in private parties to run the call centre by calling tenders, like the Indian Railways did, or use it's own employees for the work.
The parcels and consignments dispatched under services like speed post may be marked with automatic Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) sensors to help track their movement and prevent theft and pilferage. The department currently bar codes the consignments.