Agra is all set follow in the footsteps of Haryana- Postmen to deliver articles in e-Bikes

Gone are the days when the quintessential postman used to pedal around town to deliver letters and parcels. To keep pace with the changing times, the postal department has now plans to hand them motorcycles for speedy deliveries.

Gurgaon has already implemented this initiative, and Agra is all set follow in the footsteps of Haryana's millennium city.

Of late, post offices have been playing a major role in delivering goods for e-commerce companies and the motorcycles will ensure the parcels are delivered on time. The postal department is also planning to induct battery-operated rickshaws for the movement of large parcels.

Moreover, the department also plans to install a GPS device in letter boxes to monitor timing of letter collection by the postmen. Even customers will be able to track the time their letters are being picked up.

Regional postal office (Agra) assistant director Y P Singh said, "The postal department has signed several contracts with online companies for delivering goods. These companies boast of prompt and on time deliveries to their customers, so we cannot let them down. Cycles have their limitations, apart from slow delivery, large consignments cannot be carried on them. Providing motorbikes to the postmen is part of the department's mechanized delivery system."

Singh added that various aspects of this initiative are yet to be chalked out. "We are yet to decide how we will provide the motorcycles to postmen. We will need to hire the vehicles for our staff. In the initial phase, the facility will be only available for e-commerce companies, but in the future it will be used for general deliveries as well," the official informed.

Singh informed that soon letter boxes will be monitored online. There are 450 postboxes in the city, and at many places they are not opened regularly. This practice will be history with the use of new technology. Even customers will be able to keep their track letters or parcels, he added.

Recently, Gurgaon's postal department, in a pilot project, introduced motorbikes for postal delivery. Six rented motorcycles have been introduced and the average running cost of each comes up to Rs 1.50 per kilometre, inclusive of electricity and maintenance.