Postal export centres allow only cash payments despite digital push
Hubballi: Despite the nationwide push for digital payments, post offices in Hubballi-Dharwad are yet to adopt the change. Citizens looking to send parcels through Dak Ghar Niryat Kendra are being asked to pay in cash, as digital payment options are unavailable.
This includes the head post office and several sub-offices. Officials said they raised the matter with higher authorities, but for now, customers must rely solely on cash.
However, sources in the postal department revealed that non-cash transactions are not incorporated in any post office of the state. Sharing his experience with TOI, Lingaraj Dharwad, a social activist in Hubballi, said that he went to the head post office to post some material to his son living in Italy.
"After packing and weighing, I had to pay Rs 13,000. I intended to pay using UPI, but I was told I needed to pay only by cash.
When I enquired about it with higher officials there, they did not answer properly. How can they expect us to carry cash of such a big amount?" he questioned.
Shivanand, a senior citizen, said that he visited post offices to send some envelopes to his daughter living in California. "When I asked for digital payment platforms, postal staff treated me like an alien.
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The amount was about Rs 15,000, but we get only Rs 10,000 at the ATM set by the postal department itself. I don't know why the postal department is still engaged in only cash transactions. Irked by this, we have stopped availing postal services and are sending through private courier agencies," he asserted.
Ravi Kantanavar, a retired employee, said that he was told that UPI companies did not make an agreement with the department due to some technical reasons.
"However, customers can make payments through Indian Post Payment Bank," he suggested.
However, Col Sushil Kumar, post master general, NK Region, Dharwad, was neither available over the phone nor responded to the mail query made in this regard. Meanwhile, sources in the department said the IT 2.0 software version is being upgraded and it will be open for all non-cash transactions soon.
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