India Post To Replace Paper Stamps With E-Stamps For Commerc

India Post to replace paper stamps with e-stamps for commercial services

(Sorry if this is a repost, I did a search and could not find anything.)
Sad - I hope this is not something that catches on :(


Link: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com.../7039650.cms

NEW DELHI: It may not ring a bell for a generation fed on emails and SMSes, but those who grew up sending and receiving letters and greetings will take note: paper stamps will be replaced by an electronic version in another two years.

Licking and sticking will be a thing of the past with India Post deciding to use e-stamps for all its commercial services, including post cards, inland letters and registered post across the country, 156 years after British East India Company introduced the country's first stamp featuring Queen Victoria.

"The electronic form of postal stamps will fully substitute paper stamps in two years," said an official with the ministry of communications and Information Technology. India Post currently has electronic stamping facility in select urban postal circles.
The postal department is working with USbased consulting firm Accenture to prepare a detailed modernisation plan that includes shifting to the e-stamp system, which is already in place in several developed countries. India Post, employing 5 lakh people in more than 1.5 lakh post offices, is the largest postal service in the world.

Benefits of e-stamps

The move will help save printing costs and also help the department tackle the menace of forged paper stamps, which is rampant in several states, the official said, requesting anonymity. "There have been cases of revenue leaks due to postal stamps being forged in some parts of the country," said the official, without getting into details. The department sold stamps worth Rs 606 crore in 2008-09 . It reported a loss of Rs 3,638 crore in 2008-09 after posting a 34% jump in expenditure to Rs 9,500 crore. Revenues grew only 6.6% to Rs 5,862 crore during the period.

Its accumulated losses stand at Rs 7,640 crore. Some premium segment products such as Speed Post are already using bar coded stamps and several large cities have computerised post offices. But most parts of the country, including rural and semi-urban areas , use paper stamps.

The postal department, established in the 19th century as India Post Office by the British East India Company , is one of the oldest government departments in the country. The tradition of postage stamps started in 1852 when the British introduced the Scinde Dawk stamps. These stamps, embossed on red wax wafer, were the first in Asian countries. By around 1872, the British military started using stamps extensively to send official mails.

Besides shifting to e-stamps , the postal department has initiated other e-enabled services to survive in a world that is going the digital way, particularly in the communications space. Its e-post service, for instance, allows sending of messages through email to be printed at post offices near to the address.

A sign of the time miawanis, sad to say.

I would not be surprised to see a lot more countries adopt the same system as well. I am surprised to a degree nonetheless because stamps as a whole are gravy to any given post office if stamps are sold and not used for what they were intended for.

If all countries stop issuing stamps, at least catalogue publishers will have an easier job but, this does not help the avid collector, especially those who prefer new issues.

Stamps may cease to be issued, but the hobby should continue on.

Chimo

Bujutsu

This is I think the wave of the future. It is only a matter of time before the supposed cost savings become a lure too strong to be resisted. Here in the US, the postal service is operating at a huge deficit and the current fiscal climate in Washington may not provide any bailout, or at least not much of one.

I fear that as the new generations use stamps less and less that there will be less new collectors on the horizon. This is especially bad in places like India which have an increasing middle class and stamp collecting is (was?) on the rise. Also stamps are a reflection of a country's heritage (in many cases...not all), but not so much with bar codes and their ilk. It takes the fun out of the postal system.

if I were a indian stamp I would say that the news of my demise is premature and exaggerated. fear not indian stamps are not going anywhere they already have plans till 2018

I posted this the other day on a precancel thread. For those who may not have read it, here's the link...it not only briefly touches on postage stamps but it's a good reminder that any number of day-to-day things that we may remember from the past have or will soon be obsolete:

http://www.the-dispatch.com/article...TS/101184020

As for the "electronic form" of postage stamps...collectors will probably try to collect those items, too, especially as varieties become uncovered.

I think people like to have a bit of pizazz on their mailings and colourful stamps and labels and meters do just that.

A lot of the time folks just want their package to reach it's destination and seeing all the bar codes etc (like on Canadian mail) gives one a sense of security that things are being looked after properly.

To collect is to have a passion about some idea or topic and the more complex it is then the happier the collector is (I think).

I have read that to be happy doing something a person should try to do things that are autonomous (self directed), complex and meaningful. That sure sounds like stamp collecting to me.

dont worry friend, indian stamps would be around about 20 years from now also. They would not shift to e- stamps in a blink of an eye. That is for sure.

warm wishes.