19 lakh bank accounts opened with India Postal Services

Nearly 19 lakh people have opened accounts with Department of Posts after it opened banking operations in January this year. According to Department of Posts, India Post Payment Bank (IPPB) has opened a total of 18,96,410 accounts till December 24, 2018, Minister of State for Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla said in Parliament. India Post Payment Bank started operations on January 30, 2017 and till December 20 this year, a total of 9,75,806 transactions have taken place.

The IPPB had kicked off its operations by rolling out pilot services in Raipur and Ranchi on January 30, 2017.
Till December 24, 2018, the number of accounts opened by IPPB reached 18,96,410 in states like Bihar, Odisha, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Jharkhand.

Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh which got priority over others in account opening during the first two financial years, however, lagged behind when compared to states with maximum accounts till date, the minister said.
Whereas Jharkhand has 66,762 accounts and Chhattisgarh 18,804 accounts as on December 24, 2018. Bihar and Odisha top the list with 4.23 lakh and 3.24 lakh accounts respectively.

The minister said IPPB has been launched with a vision to build the most accessible, affordable and trusted bank for the common man and with the intention of spearheading the financial inclusion agenda by removing barriers for the unbanked and under-banked population.

"IPPB leverages the vast network of DoP...it is offering a bouquet of product and services, such as savings and current accounts, remittances and money transfer, direct benefit transfer, bill and utility payment and enterprise and merchant payments," the minister said.

The minister also said services provided by Department of Posts to an individual (other than a business entity) by way of savings schemes are exempt from GST.
"There is no GST on savings portion of life insurance policy," the minister said.

He also said all services provided by Department of Posts to an individual (other than a business entity) except the services of speed post, express parcel post, life insurance and agency services are exempt from GST.
Further, services by way of extending deposits, loans or advances in so far as the consideration is represented by way of interest or discount (other than interest involved in credit card services) are exempt.

"Thus, interest earned on postal small saving schemes including Kisan Vikas Patra is exempt from GST. Further, there is no GST on savings portion of life insurance policy," he said.