Financial Inclusion and Citizen-centric Services
Financial Inclusion and Citizen-centric Services
The Department of Posts, through a network of over 1.64 lakh post offices, serves more than 47 crore Post Office Savings Bank (POSB) account holders. POSB plays an important role in financial inclusion through its Savings Schemes such as Post Office Savings Account (POSA), Time Deposit Account (TD), Recurring Deposit Account (RD), Monthly Income Account (MIS), Senior Citizens Savings Scheme (SCSS), Public Provident Fund (PPF), Sukanya Samriddhi Account (SSA), National Savings Certificate (NSC), Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP), and the PM CARES for Children Scheme.
It has been instrumental in distributing funds under social security schemes, pensions, DBT and subsidies through beneficiaries’ Post Office Savings Accounts. Moreover, the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY) and Mahila Samman Savings Certificate (MSSC), with 3.83 crore and 37.3 lakh accounts respectively, as of February 28, 2026, have played a vital role in contributing towards securing the future of the girl child and the empowerment of women.
India Post has established 13,352 Aadhaar Centres nationwide, utilizing both fixed locations and mobile kits to provide biometric and demographic updates in remote areas. This initiative has processed over 14.72 crore transactions to date, specifically benefiting elderly and rural populations by eliminating the need for long-distance travel. By integrating these services into the postal network, the Department ensures streamlined access to essential identification and Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) facilities.
In collaboration with the Ministry of External Affairs, the Department of Posts operates 452 Post Office Passport Sewa Kendras (POPSKs) with the strategic goal of establishing a center in every Lok Sabha constituency. These centers offer comprehensive services, including document verification and biometric capture, and have successfully processed more than 2.09 crore applications and Police Clearance Certificates. This partnership significantly improves the accessibility of passport services for citizens especially in tribal, semi-urban, and rural regions.
India Post Payment Bank (IPPB) also offers the citizen-centric services such as Digital Life Certificates (DLC), Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AePS), mobile number updates in Aadhaar for any citizen, and Child Enrolment Lite Client (CELC) services for any child under 5 years old.
The Department of Posts has upgraded its technology-based Complaint Management System (CMS), which was rolled out on 07.03.2025 under Advanced Postal Technology (APT) 2.0. The upgraded system introduces a customer-interactive complaint resolution process, wherein complaints are closed only after sharing the resolution with the complainant and obtaining their consent, with provisions for automatic escalation in case of disagreement.
This information was given by the Minister of State for Communications and Rural Development Dr Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today.