India Post to start mobile money orders

India Post under the ministry of communications and IT is expected to come up with pan-India roll out of mobile money order service. The pilot program for this project is currently under way in Bihar and Punjab.

Manjula Prasher, secretary (Posts), chairman of the postal services Board and director general, India Post, on the sidelines of National Postal Policy 2012 roundtable in New Delhi informed that they chose two states-- Bihar and Punjab-- where a lot of immigrant workers remit money to their states.

“The mobile money orders will be a good initiative to facilitate people,” she added.

The government has tied up with state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) for this initiative, though the service would remain operator-neutral. The individuals, who want to opt for mobile money order, need to furnish basic information to the designated post office.

The subscribers would get an SMS containing the details of remittance that would allow customers to collect cash from local post offices. The government didn’t disclose timeline for pan-India rollout, but said it’s a part of department’s modernization roadmap.

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