In the era of smartphones and emails, one hardly thinks of inland letters and postcards when it comes to sending a message across. But an RTI query by The Indian Express with the Department of Posts shows that inland letters and postcards continue to sell reasonably well in post-offices across the country.
The newspaper reported that in 2015, 4.80 crore inland letters were sold at 159 post-offices across the country, as compared to 2010’s nearly 6.64 crore, according to the Right to Information reply. The numbers might show a drop in sales, but it’s still a reasonably good figure, considering growing number of smart gadgets usage with every passing year.
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As many as 15 crore postcards were sold in 2010 in 2015, while 13 crore were sold in 2015. Meghdoot postcards, which come with a space dedicated to advertisement, also posted impressive sales — around 26 lakh in 2010 and 21 lakh in 2015, reported the newspaper.
“People keep using postcards and inland letters as they are the cheapest ways of communication. Everyone can afford it. Although 50 paise coins have been demonetised, postcards continue to sell for that. Another reason for their consistent sale is that postage rates are not revised very frequently,” Ganesh Sawaleshwarkar, postmaster general, Pune region to The Indian Express.
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In 2015, PTI reported that during the financial year 2013-14, the deficit of the Department of Posts was Rs. 5,473.10 crore as against the previous year's deficit of Rs. 5,425.89 crore, which is an increase of 0.87%.
The department said total revenue earned including remuneration for savings bank and savings certificates work during the year 2013-14 was Rs 10,730.42 crore while the gross working expenditure was Rs 16,796.71 crore. The DoP though recovered Rs 593.19 crore from other ministries and departments, so the deficit turned out to be Rs 5,473.10 crore for the reported period.
(With PTI inputs)
