The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Now book your tours at post offices

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Sep 16, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Now book your tours at post offices

Staff Reporter

Life comes full circle for India Post with its offer of travel solutions

You can book air, train and bus tickets, hire cars and tour packages using Genie Ease-Ticket
Postal staff have been trained to use the facility to meet public demand

— Photo: K. Gopinathan

New service: M.P. Rajan, Chief Postmaster General, Karnataka Circle (left) releasing the first online ticket in Bangalore on Monday. Also seen are (from left) Karuna Pillai, Postmaster General, Karnataka Circle; Usman Fayaz, Chairman ARM I Solutions Pvt. Ltd; and S. Gagarin, Chief Regional Manager, IRCTC.

Bangalore: Planning a trip and want to know about the tour packages? Just walk into any one of the 150 post offices to book tickets — air, train or bus.

India Post and ARM I-Solutions have jointly launched Genie Ease-Ticket as a pilot project in all the post offices across the State. With the tie-up, Indian post offices will now double as travel agencies, where one can book air, train and bus tickets, hire cars, book hotel rooms and tour packages.

Speaking on the occasion, M.P. Rajan, Chief Postmaster General, said the tie-up had helped India Post’s Karnataka Circle to realise part of its dream of becoming a major service retailer. “With the world on the move, travel services have become critical. We have a vast network and there are more than 9,800 customer service locations in Karnataka itself. We are keen on offering all travel agency services at the neighbourhood post offices,” he said.

Around 150 years ago, when India Post was managed by the British, the local post offices used to offer travel solutions.

“There were very few means of transport available then. The post office would arrange for palanquins for those who needed to travel and the Dak Bungalows doubled as places where people could stay overnight. So, this service is not new. We are just reintroducing a service that we provided earlier,” he said, in a lighter vein.

Usman Fayaz, chairman, ARM I-Solutions Pvt. Ltd., said: “The travel industry is set for a 20 per cent growth in the next five years and more distribution points are required. India Post is one of the most reliable networks in the country. Every post office with Genie Ease-Ticket will meet the public’s travel needs.”

He said the project was first launched in 27 post offices in Tamil Nadu in May 2008. Now, Genie Ease-Ticket is available in more than 100 post offices in that State. Postal staff have been trained to use the facility and meet all the travel requirements of the public. Plans are afoot to introduce Genie Ease-Ticket in about 8,000 post offices in the next 12 to 15 months.

S. Gagarin, Chief Regional Manager, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd. (IRCTC); Sanjay Agarwal, General Manager, IRCTC; Shankar Narayanan, Chief Executive Officer, ARM I-Solutions; spoke on the occasion. Karuna Pillai, Postmaster General, Karnataka Circle, was present.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Karnataka