India Post Payments Bank launch by PM Modi on Aug 21 to be a grand affair

The IPPB, which has already been delayed by several months, is currently running pilot services in Raipur and Ranchi

The launch of the much-delayed India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) promises to be a grand affair. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will do the honours in Delhi’s Talkatora stadium along with Communications Minister Manoj Sinha on August 21. Simultaneous launches are also being planned across all the 650 districts of the country and a schedule for the same is being drawn up.

The importance of the launch can be gauged from how ministers have been asked to inform the Prime Minister’s Office and take prior permission before leaving the country on August 21. In case a minister wishes to leave the country, separate arrangements need to be made, sources clarified.

India Post Payments Bank

The launch in the districts will be done by the local Member of Parliament (MP) or minister and in those constituencies where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs are not present, a strong BJP leader will do the needful.

Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad is going to Kolkata for the unveiling. Sources said he is interested in Patna since the local BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha has not evinced any interest. Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi is likely to conduct the programme in Patna.

Prasad was set to leave for Argentina on the, morning of August 21. Instead he will leave on the night of August 21 from Kolkata.

The stadium in Delhi is set to host over 1,500 people, including postal employees, members of the direct benefit transfer mission, banks, etc. This is purported to be one of the biggest launches in the country.

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It’s official! PM Modi to launch India Post Payments Bank on August 21

IPPB would become one of the largest banking networks in India. India Post has 154,000 post offices, of which 139,000 are in rural areas

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) on August 21. The event will take place at the capital’s Talkatora stadium.

The bank is running pilot services in Raipur and Ranchi. It will tie up with other banks and financial companies to offer loans, mutual funds and insurance policies, said sources. The Department of Posts was one of the 11 entities to get the in-principle nod from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in 2015 for setting up a payments bank. Many private firms such as Airtel, Fino, Paytm, etc, have launched these services. But IPPB missed the September 2017 deadline to open 650 branches because it failed to get a system integrator (SI) on board.

India post payments bank

IPPB would become one of the largest banking networks in India. India Post has 154,000 post offices, of which 139,000 are in rural areas. The government is planning to utilise 650 branches to serve as controlling offices for servicing and monitoring post offices. These branches will be linked to IPPB by the end of this year.

An account holder can deposit up to Rs 100,000, withdraw cash, and make payments just like a savings bank account in any other commercial bank. However, to overcome the limitation of Rs 100,000, the bank has received permission to link around 170 million post office saving banks (POSB) account. Whenever a deposit in IPPB account exceeds Rs 100,000, it can be transferred to POSB. There are 370 million different types of accounts at post offices, which will be linked to IPPB gradually, according to sources.

Article Source : BS