India Post launches e-commerce portal

The Department of Posts has been focussing on e-commerce sector to increase its revenue receipts. 

Leveraging its parcel business network, India Post on Tuesday announced the soft launch of its e-commerce portal. "IndiaPostOffice has launched e-commerce portal and I am glad that today I have received first parcel by this e-commerce portal," Communications Minister Manoj Sinha said in a tweet. 

While details of the e-commerce service that will be provided through India Post could not be ascertained, an official source that the Department of Posts has done only soft launch and full fledge operations of the service will start around or after mid-December. 

The Department of Posts has been focussing on e-commerce sector to increase its revenue receipts. The Department facilitates has collected and remitted more than Rs 2,700 crore under cash-on-delivery till January 2018 since its introduction in December 2013. 

The ongoing e-commerce business segment resulted in increase of 13 per cent revenue of India Post in the 2017-18 and total revenue the department earned under Speed Post till January 2018 was Rs 1,502.60 crore.