Postal Dept to select consultant for payment bank by month-end

The Department of Post (DoP) is likely to finalise the consultant for its payment bank by the end of this month. 

The DoP had shortlisted six consultants but only three of them have submitted bids. 

The consultant will advise the Department on setting up of payment bank. 

"We are doing the technical evaluation which will be completed by January 22 and by the end of this month, tender will be awarded," an official in DoP told PTI. 

The consultants which have submitted their bids include KPMG, EY and Deloitte. 

The Public Investment Board (PIB) is scheduled to consider tomorrow a Rs 800-crore proposal from DoP for setting up the bank. 

After the PIB's approval, the proposal will be moved to Cabinet within a month. PIB under the Finance Ministry vets investment proposals by state-run entities. 

The pilot for payment bank is set to start from January 2017 while full-fledged operations may start by March 2017. 

As many as 40 international financial conglomerates, including World Bank and Barclays, have shown interest to partner with Postal Department for the payment bank. 

The Reserve Bank of India has granted payment bank permit to the postal department, which has 1.55 lakh branches across country and already provides financial services.