SHILLONG, Sept 1 - Meghalaya Governor Tathagata Roy today said the launch of India Post Payment Bank (IPPB) would do a world of good to an under-banked country like India and end Ponzi schemes.
Launching the IPPBs at Shillong General Post Office and Tura Head Office, Roy said: �India is an under-banked country. As a result of this under banking we have various distortions creep in like the Chit funds which are actually Ponzi schemes.�
IPPB will function as a normal bank and offer savings and current accounts, money transfer, direct benefit transfers, bill and utility payments, and enterprise and merchant payments.
These facilities would be offered through counter services, micro-ATM, mobile banking app, SMS and IVR. Some of the latest banking technologies would be available in these IPPBs.
The Governor said that in West Bengal there has been a mushrooming of Chit Funds which are actually Ponzi schemes. The Governor was pointing out perhaps to some of the infamous Ponzi schemes like Saradha Group from West Bengal, which has duped a large number of people across the country.
�They (Ponzi schemes) spread their tentacles, ensnare the poor and illiterate people and they rob them of their money. Literate and moneyed people too have been robbed of their money because of the policies they gave,� Roy stated.
Hoping that the IPPBs would put an end to such dubious schemes, the Governor said the �IPPBs would connect to the last person in the remotest village by the last point connectivity provided by the postal peon.�
He said the IPPBs would be of immense help in case of direct benefit transfer of schemes and eventually be beneficial for senior citizens, pensioners and the poor across the country.
Chief Postmaster General, North East Circle, Anjali Anand, said, apart from two head post offices in Shillong and Tura, 15 sub post offices and 23 branch post offices would have IPPB facilities.
The Circle covers the States of Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Tripura. There are nine head offices and most sub and branch offices in this Circle would have IPPBs from today, she informed.
�The IPPBs would focus on providing banking and financial services to the people by leveraging reach of 1.55 lakh post office branches in the country,� she informed.
